Love Story
by A Rozen Dream
Summary: I looked up at him with wide eyes but his head was turned away from me, I felt his hand move undermine and as I looked down he held my hand entwining our fingers.
1. Chapter 1

"This is so boring" I muttered under my breath

I was watching Kiba, Hinata, Shino and even Shikamaru had joined them for today's training. I sat on a fallen tree log tapping my fingers on my leg as I watched them fight each other, honestly I didn't see how hurting each other was a good thing but that being said I wasn't a ninja so I guess it was just a ninja thing.

"Can't we do something else!" I called out to them

They all turned to look at me making me a little uncomfortable, even after all the years I had known everybody they still make me shiver when they looked at me, I guess that was a ninja thing to.

"I'm sorry Suki" Hinata quietly said playing with her fingers

Those eyes of hers, those hazy purple eyes that held so much emotion and the magical ability to make me feel incredibly guilty, even if I hadn't done anything to deserve that guilt.

"I just meant it would be nice if I could join in..."

"You?" Kiba laughed

"Yes me" I frowned standing

"You're not a ninja" he said facing me with a smirk

"Do I have to be a ninja to join in?" I asked walking towards him

We always butted heads and this was no different, we were only inches from each other glaring at one another.

"What a drag" Shikamaru sighed "are we going to train or not?"

"Not until dog boy admits I could join in"

"Not a chance fish girl"

Fish girl was what Kiba started calling me when he caught me swimming in a river one time, I loved swimming it was a passion of mine and I was good at it, I could hold my breath longer, swim faster, swim longer than anyone else in the village but because of it Kiba had nicknamed me fish girl.

"Why not settle this with a competition" Shino cut in

"What kind of competition?" Kiba and I asked together only causing us to glare at each other again

"Can't we all just train together?" Hinata asked

"I would love to train with you Hina" I said not braking the glare "but until dog boy here admits I can train to I can't"

"We used to all play together"

I could hear it in the tone of her voice, she was making those sad eyes again, just thinking about them made me feel guilty so with a groan I broke the glare and put my hands in my pocket.

"What about tag?" I asked closing my eyes

"Tag? Us ninjas don't have time for your silly games" Kiba huffed

"If you would stop barking for a minute and actually listen" I hissed "Hina, Shika and Shino will be it and if you last longer than me I'll admit I can't train with you guys BUT if I last longer then you have to admit I can train to, deal?"

"You're on"

We sealed the deal with a handshake each on trying to break the others hand.

"You two are so troublesome" Shikamaru sighed "well let's get this over with"

"And no holding back!" Kiba shouted

"I don't know if I could ever hurt Suki" Hinata mumbled

"You don't have to hurt me, the rules are if we get tagged then we lose, no one has to hurt anyone ok"

"Ok" she half smiled

Kiba and I got a 10 second head started before the others came after us, the only problem I would have is Shikamaru's shadow possession and Shino's bugs but if I just kept on my feet and kept my distance I should be fine. I may not have been a ninja but that didn't mean I was useless, my family owned and ran a traveling circus and I was born and raised in it. I quickly became the star doing flips on the thinnest wire you could ever imagine, my body was pushed to its very limit and beyond, I couldn't tell you how many times I had broken my bones from being too far. I was also fast, something that I have always been good at was running, probably from when I would steal things from the other members of the circus and they would all chase after me.

I was good a dodging things to, I had to be, because I was fast and could do flips and bend my body this way at that I was often used as target practice, thinking back on it now I can't believe my parents let them use me as target practice. In all I may not be a ninja but I can do everything a ninja can do if not better, well expect for the jutsu things.

"Whoa" I quickly lent backwards arching my back and landing with my palms on the ground "wow Hina you're getting fast"

"You really think so?"

I flipped over standing upright once more and smiled at her, she almost got me, I underestimated just how quick those hands of hers were.

"Maybe I should be worried about you and not bug boy or shadow guy" I smirked skipping off

We had been at it for a while so really in the end I did get to train with them but I was slowly getting tired, I wasn't a ninja and my stamina wasn't as high as Kiba so knowing when to quit before I lost I called a truce.

"It way past lunch, why don't we just call a truce?" I called out revealing my position

"You admitting surrender?" I heard Kiba shout back

"No! but let's face it by this rate were going to be here until next week, besides I promised Naruto and the others I would meet up with them for lunch"

"Let's stop Kiba" I heard Hinata call out

I giggled silently to myself, I knew Hinata had a huge crush on Naruto but he had a crush on Sakura who had a crush on Sasuke who had a crush on well I swear it was himself, a dead end really.

"Fine" a grumbled response eventually came

We all came out of hiding then walked into town together.

"Man how could you keep up?" Kiba asked putting his hands in his pocket

"Ah you know" I shrugged

Not many people here knew about my past, when I was 12 my parents sold the circus and we all moved here where they opened up a gym for both normal everyday people to ninjas. Being circus people we specialized in flexibility which helped out a lot of ninjas and we also did balance and mostly just endurance things nothing like lifting weights and that stuff. My dad would always tell me the body had all the strength it needed and mussels will just slow you down and after seeing all the scrawny looking ninjas here I can see what he means.

"Kiba you know her family owns a gym" Hinata pointed out

"Her family has helped many shinobi it's no surprise she would pick something up" Shino added in

"Or I'm just better than him" I smirked

We headed inside to see Choji had already started cooking the food; I looked around and noticed I wasn't the only one that bought people with me. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were there but so was Choji, Tenten, Neji, Rock Lee, Ino and even Sai, deciding to have a little fun I squished myself right next to Sai then turned to face him.

"Hello" I smiled at him

He turned to face me looking a little worried and I didn't blame him, we kind of got off on the wrong foot so to speak. The first time we met it was Naruto who introduced us, he didn't say anything at first and I thought he was just shy until he called me callous. Now I'm not above admitting I was having a bad day and didn't have time to chat but still that was no need to call me callous so I snagged Naruto's ninja stars and chased him around throwing them at him until he hid in the male bathrooms and now he was slightly afraid of me.

"How have you been? You know I was thinking we should do something, just the two of us what do you think?"

He really started to panic now, I did feel bad for scaring the poor guy but I had tried to make it up to him a few times but still he remains the same, I guess first impressions really do stick.

"What about you Sasuke, maybe we should do something together" I said smirking at the frowning boy next to me

"I didn't know you liked Sasuke" Sakura said panicking

"Who wouldn't like Sasuke, he's so cool" Ino pointed out

I thought about ignoring those two and letting them fight but the thought about them fighting right in here made me change my mind.

"Come on you two, who would like Mr depressing over here"

"WHAT!" the both shouted turning on me

The only way to stop them two fighting was to turn them onto someone else, in this case me but I didn't mind, I found it rather funny how quickly they could work together when it came to defending Sasuke.

"What about you Neji? You want to go out on a date with me?"

He shot me a glare, his eyes where the same as Hinata but instead of holding kind emotions they were more hateful.

"I guess you only have eyes for Tenten" I sighed

I saw Neji's face soften and Tenten blushed, they hadn't admitted it yet but everyone knew they both liked each other.

"Shika what about you?"

"What a drag"

"Ok what about you Kiba? We could watch that new movie together"

I knew there was no way any of these guys would go out on a date with me, neither did I honestly want to go out on a date with them but it was fun putting them on the spot then making some of them feel guilty about it.

"Sure"

"Wait what?" I shrieked

"Been wanting to watch that movie for a while now"

Everyone was dead silent, I couldn't tell if he was joking or being serious, for once I had nothing to say back.

"Uhhh"

"We could meet out the front before the movie starts?"

"Uhhh"

"Why don't Sasuke and I come along, would you like that Sasuke" Sakura asked

"HEY WHAT ABOUT ME!" Naruto shouted

"_What just happened?"_


	2. Chapter 2

That night I found myself standing in front of my mirror wearing a kimono of all things doing my hair, my hair was short so all I really could do was wear a headband but still I couldn't understand why I was even doing this.

"I'm going out for a bit!" I called out opening the front door

"Where are you going all dressed up?" dad asked walking towards me

"Just to the movies.."

"With a boy?"

"Yes with a boy" I sighed

"On a date?"

"... undecided"

"And what are you doing after the movie?"

"I don't know, probably go somewhere nice and dark and quiet so we can make out" I said rolling my eyes

"WHAT! Takara get in here!" he called out

_"Maybe not a good idea..."_ I sighed mentally cursing myself

Mum poked her head into the hallway and took in the situation before coming towards us with a sigh.

"You look nice Suki"

"Thanks mum, can I go now?" I asked turning away

"You're not going anywhere young lady" dad said placing his hand on my shoulder

"You're going out? Is it a date?" mum asked ignoring dad

"Not exactly... it's just Kiba, were going to watch a movie together" I explained facing her

"That boy with the dog?"

"Uhhh yeah..."

"Will you be back for dinner?"

"Probably not, movie might not finish until 7 maybe... just wrap something up for me in the fridge"

"Ok, have fun and don't come back too late"

"Sure mum, I'll see you guys later"

"YOU'RE LETTING HER GO!" dad shouted

Before I could get caught again I slipped out the door closing it behind me and ran off down the street towards the movies. Once I was far enough away I slowed down to a walk looking up at the sky.

_"Well at least I get to watch a movie"_

I got there but couldn't see Kiba and for a split second I thought that maybe he wasn't coming, looking at the time though I realised I was 20 minutes early. I sat down on the bench outside to wait for Kiba; I had been waiting for 15 minutes but still no sign of him.

_"I swear if he doesn't come I'm going to kill him"_

"Suki?"

I looked up and was surprised to see Kiba standing there looking very un-Kiba like, he was wearing black pants and a white shirt with a black jacket over top unbuttoned and Akamaru was missing.

"What did you do to Akamaru?"

"Left him at home" he surged

"But you never go anywhere without the puff ball, and what are you wearing? You look... Clean"

"DON'T CALL HIM PUFF BALL! And besides I could say the same thing about you, fish girl" he smirked walking away

After getting the tickets we found a seat and sat down, the movie we were watching was meant to be a scary one but mostly it just had a lot of things jumping out at the screen in turn making me jump.

"So this is why you're not a ninja?" he whispered to me with a small chuckle

"I can't control what my body does" I hissed back

Just as I said that the killer in the movie jumped from the roof making me jump and grab hold of Kiba's arm. Kiba froze in place and I quickly removed my hand from him, my heart was pounding and I didn't know what to do so I decided to just ignore it. I guess Kiba came to that same conclusion because he wasn't making fun of me, yelling at me or doing anything.

"Uhhh sorry about that" I blushed

"It's fine" he quickly said not taking his eyes from the screen

Throughout the rest of the movie every time out hands brushed against each other we both pulled back muttering apologises to the other. By the time the movie had finished I couldn't help but sigh a little relived, it was getting just a tiny bit awkward.

I sigh stretching my hands above my head "that was a good movie"

"Did you want to get something to eat?"

"Uhhh sure... sounds good" I smiled at him

We walked to the ramen stand in silence, I couldn't get a read on the guy, any other day he would be teasing me for being a fraidy cat or just plain making fun of me but this was different, he was silent. During dinner things lightened up a bit and before I knew it we were laughing and teasing each other like we did every other day.

"You know I was surprised when you agreed to watch a movie with me" I admitted "I mean I was only asking the others cause I knew they would never agree, could you imagine it, Neji and me at a movie together? Or even Sasuke or Sai; that would have been scarier than anything else in this world"

"I was surprised when you asked me" he admitted

"I wasn't going to after all you're in the middle"

"Middle?" he asked raising a brow

"Yeah I have a list, it's kind of a people who wouldn't be caught dead doing anything with me list, the lower you are the less chance I have of actually being alone with you and you're in the middle, a clean 50-50 chance, suits you actually"

"Who else is on this list?"

"Well there's Sai at the bottom, then Sasuke, Neji, Shika, you, Shino, Choji, Naruto and at the top is Lee"

"I'm below Shino!"

"Well of course, Shino is quite nice once you get to know the guy and unless he really didn't want to he wouldn't mind being with me"

"Yeah ok but tell me, what the hell happened with you and Sai I mean sure the guy is a little weird but he's harmless"

"What makes you think I did anything?"

"Whenever you get too close to him he looks like Naruto when Sakura is about to hit him"

I couldn't help but laugh at that, Naruto was terrified of Sakura when she got mad and he had every right to be after all one of her punches to anyone other than Naruto would probably kill them.

"Wellll... he called me callous so I took Naruto's ninja star things and started to throw them at him... I did apologize, I even bought him a present but he still won't talk to me"

"And that's a bad thing" he scoffed "last time I talked to the guy he asked if I had fleas from Akamaru"

"What, really? That's hardly fair"

"I know!"

"It's more Akamaru got the fleas form you" I said with a grin

"HEY!" he shouted at me

After we ate dinner we walked around for a little while not really going anywhere or doing anything, that's when I realised something.

"Heh"

"What is it?"

"Oh I was just thinking, this is the first time you and I have ever spent so much time alone together"

"No its not"

"Yes it is..."

"No, don't you remember just the other week when I was helping you find a present for Choji?"

"Shika was there to... and Hina"

"They were?"

"Yeah, remember Hina was always braking up our fights and Shika was grumbling to himself in the background"

"Oh yeah... well what about when we were waiting for the others to meet us a couple of months ago, and you fell into the river?"

"You mean you pushed me into the river and Shino was with us that time as well, he helped me out"

"What about wh..."

"Just give up" I cut in "admit it we don't really spend more than an hour or maybe two alone together"

"No way, you don't know what you're talking about"

"Sure I don't" I laughed pushing his shoulder

We walked around for a little longer before I decided I should probably be getting home.

"I guess we should head home soon huh"

"Yeah" he nodded

Kiba walked me back to my place then once we reached my house there was a kind of awkward silence as we both avoided each other.

"You know I had fun"

"Yeah for a fish girl you're not bad"

"Same goes to you, dog boy"

We glared at each other for a few seconds before we both started laughing.

"We still on for training tomorrow?"

"Like you could train with real ninjas" he smirked at me

We waved goodbye to each other then I headed inside only to be picked up by dad and looked over.

"Argh! What are you doing!"

"Did he touch you?"

"No dad" I sighed

He put me back on the ground then cleared his throat trying to give me, what he called his 'grown up dad face'.

"I think it's time we had a talk about boys"

"Oh boy, ok dad I'm going to stop you there" I said backing away slowly "there is no way I'm talking about that with you"

With that said I ran up to my room before he could corner me, once I was in my room I changed into my pyjamas and laid down on my bed looking up at the roof.

"Kiba huh... I wonder if that was actually a date or not" I yawned closing my eyes "oh well"


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning I woke up whacking my alarm clock, it was my most loved and hated item, loved because it was the shape of a penguin, hated because it constantly woke me up every day at 7. I got up and changed in baggy moss green cargo pants and a black tank top with a grey loose, baggy jacket over top. I headed down stairs with a yawn pulling what I could of my hair into a pony tail with most falling out, once I was down stairs I poured myself some cereal then sat down to eat, it wasn't until I was half way through I realised I didn't have milk, deciding I couldn't be bothered moving I continued to eat.

"How did you sleep?" mum asked walking into the room with a bright smile

I just groaned in response and continued to eat.

"Well better hurry up, the kids will be here at 7:30"

"Yeah" I mumbled

It took me a few seconds for my sleepy brain to click what she just said.

"Wait what? I don't have any lessons today"

"You caught me, Telika can't make it, her husband came around this morning, she has fallen ill"

"And you want me to fill in?" I sighed taking another mouthful

"It's only for half the day"

"Gah, fine"

Once I was finished eating I went to the front door to put my shoes on, I wrapped a bandage around my ankles for extra support then slipped on my flats then headed out. I walked next door to the gym and grabbed Telika's clip board and looked it over, I only recognized two of the kids in her class and it looked like they were learning how to walk on fences, logs, planks and just you're basic balance things. I got together some things I might need then waited for the class to arrive, once everyone was there they all sat down on the soft mat talking to each other.

"Ok everyone, my name is Suki and I'll be you're trainer today"

One of the girls at the front raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Where's Telika-sensei?"

"She's not feeling very well today so she is at home resting. So is everybody ready for today's training?"

"Yes" they all answered together

I was about to pick up the bag when I noticed a boy raising his hand.

"Yes?"

"Can we go outside and practice today?"

"Of course, I know the perfect spot" I smiled

They all jumped up cheering and ran around, I picked up the bag and headed towards the door, after getting them to settle down a little we all headed out. I headed to my favourite training ground, it's where I always took my group and no one else really came here, it was my favourite because of the soft grass and there was a nice lake nearby. Once we got there I got everyone to tell me their names and I desperately tried to remember them, I was horrible with remembering names, after that I let them warm up while I set out planks for them to walk on.

After a few hours I let them all take a break, while they were playing around I heard a dog barking and next thing I knew Kiba and Akamaru were standing there. All the kids crowded around Akamaru who laid calmly on the ground letting them pat him while I walked up to Kiba.

"What are you and fuzz ball doing here?"

"Looking for you" he said hitting my arm

"Ow what was that for?"

"For calling Akamaru fuzz ball"

"Did you come here just to hit me or is there a reason?" I frowned rubbing my arm

"You didn't show up and Hinata was worried about you"

"So why isn't Hina here then?"

"We drew straws, I lost"

"Lovely" I frowned "well how did you find me?"

"You're mum said you would be here, why are you here?"

"Oh well you know I wanted to kidnap a group of kids and come here"

"Yeah I thought it was something like that"

I couldn't help but giggle at how calm he was saying that.

"Telika couldn't come to work so I'm filling in, you and Akamaru can join in if you want, show them how a real ninja does it"

"I wouldn't want to show you up"

"Well how about we make in interesting then, if I win you have to shout me to lunch and if you win ill shout you, deal?"

"Deal" he said holding out his hand

We shook on it then I called the kids together.

"Everyone this is Kiba, he's a friend of mine and were going to have a little competition, how would you all like to help?"

"How?" a few of them called out

"Well we need you guys to set up a course for us; you can use anything in that bag and make it any way you want"

Their faces lit up as they got up and ran to the bag that kept all the planks in, while they were setting up the course Kiba and I decided how we would decide the winner. The winner was the person that could completely the course faster only walking at a normal speed and if you touched the ground 5 seconds would be added to your time. Once the children were finished I had to admit I was impressed, they had used absolutely everything I bought, the course twisted this way and that with the planks getting higher and lower, fatter and then thinner but what really surprised me was the lake.

With Akamaru's help they managed to move the course over the lake and back again, that wasn't too surprising but the thin wire was, I didn't even know that was in there and being over the lake it was more likely to get moved around. And if that wasn't enough they also put the one plank we had that was cut out of shape with holes in it looking like it was going to break, plus it wobbled whenever you stepped on it. In all the course was great, since being here I haven't really been able to use... well show off my true skill.

"Were done!" they all called out

"This is where you start" one of them said pointing to the easiest plank

"So who's going to go first?" I asked walking to the starting point

"Rock, paper, scissors?"

Kiba was up first which I was actually grateful for, now I would know how fast I had to go to win. He started out fine, which I did expect but I was more curious to see him walk on the wire. Kiba seemed to hesitate for a slipt second before crossing the wire, I was right and the wire moved around a lot, something I could take into account when it was my turn. He never made a mistake and he had finished in less than 2 minutes and he had a smug grin, he already thought he had bet me.

"There's no way you're going to be able to do this without falling in" he told me with a smug grin

"We'll see"

"Miss Suki can walk on anything!" one of the girls shouted out

"Anything huh?" he asked walking towards her

"Uhuh, anything" she said folding her arms

"Now calm down children" I said with a small smirk looking at Kiba

She poked out her tongue at Kiba then turned her attention towards me, the first half was easy and I got that over with pretty fast but up next was the wire. I started walking on it without hesitating; I closed my eyes and let my feet feel the vibrations in the wire, every gust of wind that hit it and my every footstep. I knew not to try and stop the wire from moving, or to try and rush it, all I had to do was try and blend into the vibrations. I heard gasping behind me, just like when I was in the circus, the audience would gasp thinking I was going to fall but as far as I was concerned I was nowhere near falling.

Once I was off the wire I opened my eyes and grinned at Kiba as I continued on, the plank was easy, just don't get your foot stuck in the holes and after that just a high beam and I was done. I jumped down from the beam with a satisfied sigh; I forgot the rush of walking on such thin wire, the rush of the audience's reactions.

"So how did I do?"

"Meet me at the ramen stand" he grumbled walking off

"I won?" I asked

They showed me the timer and I completed it about 15 or so seconds faster than Kiba.

"I told him no one could beat you Miss Suki"

Once the lesson was finished I headed to the ramen stand where I was greeted by Akamaru and Kiba's back.

"You're not sulking are you?"

"How did you do that?" he asked facing me

"Same as you I guess" I shrugged

I looked at his face and something told me that wasn't exactly true, it took me a while to piece it together but when I did I flicked his arm.

"Ay what was that for?" he frowned

"You little cheater, you were using you're chakra weren't you?"

"You never said I couldn't" he said defending himself "there's no way you could do that without using chakra so how did you do it?"

"Well I'm just better then you obviously" I smirked sitting down next to him

"Neji says you don't have any chakra, Hinata says the same but there's no way you can do those things without it"

"Those things? And you got Hinata and Neji to look at me, that's just creepy"

"Yesterday I saw how quickly you dodged Hinata and the others then today with that wire"

"So you think I'm some kind of super spy ninja or something? Don't worry I'm not, I'm just good at my job, I have to be to keep up with you real ninja" I chuckled

"HEY SUKI! KIBA!"

I turned around and saw Naruto waving and running towards us with Sakura, Sai and Sasuke behind him.

"On another date?" he grinned walking into the stand

"And if we were?" I smirked looking up at him

Naruto blushed slightly and opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

"Were not on a date, I just won a bet that's all" I giggled

I moved back a bit and smiled at the other three.

"Hey Sakura, Sai and Sasuke, you guys going to join us?"

"We're on our way to see lady Tsunade" Sakura smiled "come on Naruto"

"Can't I have just one bowl?"

Sakura walked up to him with that killer look in her eyes, she grabbed him by the ear then started to walk off with him in tow.

"Do you guys have a mission?" I asked Sasuke

"It doesn't concern you"

"Well it does, if you guys go away who will I tease?" I asked showing him a friendly smile

Sasuke just huffed and continued walking with Sai not far behind them.

"You guys get to go on adventures... I'm so jealous" I sighed leaning on the table in front of me

"What you want to go on a mission?"

"Before coming here our family used to move around a lot, I just got used to it but now I've been in the same village for over 4 years... I dunno I just kind of miss the days when we travel around" I sighed turning my head to look up at him "before I became friends with all of you I used to try and convince my parents to go back to our old life"

"What about now?" he asked looking straight ahead

"Well I want to leave but I want to be able to come back to, like a holiday or a vacation or something. Mind you I think I would get bored and lonely on my own, that's why I'm jealous, you get to go to places you have never been with friends while I'm stuck here waiting for you all to return"

"A vacation..." he muttered to himself


	4. Chapter 4

For the next few weeks things died down, everyone started going out on missions again and now that the academy was in full swing I didn't have lessons through the day leaving me with nothing to do. I would hang out with whoever was still here but mostly I was on my own, it was one of these boring lonely days that I headed out to a waterfall that was nearby. I dived into the deepest part of the water and swam down as far as I could before my ears started to hurt, I stayed under the water for as long as my lungs could handle but as I was swimming up I saw someone else dive in. They put their hands around my waist and started to pull me up then they carried me out laying me on the grass.

I was to stunned for words, I had no idea who this stranger was, his hair was a bright red and with his hair wet it was slightly below his ears. He also had a huge gourd on his back, and his eyes sent a chill down my spine, there was something about him that made me weary.

"Are you ok?" he asked moving closer to my face

I must have stopped breathing because I found myself coughing and gasping for air, he looked concerned but he also didn't seem to know what to do.

"I'm sorry, I'm fine, just forgot how to breathe for a bit" I said once I was over my coughing fit

"You should be more careful" he said walking away

"WAIT!" I called out jumping to my feet "what's your name?"

"Gaara"

"From the land hidden in the sand?"

"Yes" he said facing me

"I'm friends with Naruto, he has told me about you, as have the others"

"I have not met you before"

"I'm not a ninja so I don't go out on missions with them... oh speaking of missions Naruto is out on one so if you're here to see him..."

"I am here as the kazekage to speak to the land hidden in the leaves Hokage" he stated

"Oh... do you know where to find her? If you don't I could show you, as a thank you for helping me"

"Very well" he said walking away

_"He's heading in the right direction... he knows how to get there"_ I thought with a sigh _"oh well, always wanted to meet him anyway"_

I caught up to him and we walked in silence, every now and then I tried to peek a look at the tattoo that was said to be on his forehead, I guess he noticed because he stopped walking and folded his arms.

"What is it?" he asked sounding extremely annoyed

"Oh well I heard you had a tattoo..."

With a sigh he pulled up his wet hair reviling the tattooed word 'love' in red.

"Did it hurt?"

"Yes but the pain was nothing to me"

Things were quiet again as we walked down the streets, a few people turned to look at us or maybe to look at him, I wasn't too sure. After taking him to the Hokage I waited outside for him to finish, he wasn't in there for long but I don't think he expected me to still be around.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"Are you hungry?" I asked him with a smile "mum was making me lunch today and she always makes enough to feed a small army and I'm sure you have journeyed a long way and you should rest after a long trip"

"I don't even know you're name" he pointed out walking away

"Its Suki" I said running after him "so what do you say? As a thank you for saving me"

_"It worked last time I said that"_

"You have already repaid me"

"... my life is only worth directions... not even a meal... well I understand" I sighed walking away with my head down

I heard him groan in frustration as he fell into pace with me.

"I can't stay long"

"Great!" I shouted cheering up

I took him back to my place where the smell of food was already drifting out of the house, since there haven't been as many lessons mum had taken up cooking once more and even though her meals were yummy she cooked way too much for just 3 people.

"I'm home" I called out opening the door

"Welcome home" mum called from the kitchen "you're just in time for lunch"

"I bought a friend with me today"

I took of my shoes placing them near my flats and bandages then waited for Gaara to take his off before closing the door and walking towards the kitchen.

"A friend? Wonderful, the more the merrier"

"... yeah don't worry about mum... she has this small obsession with cooking and feeding people... you'll be fine though the real problem is da..."

Before I could finish my sentence dad's head was poking out of the kitchen, he looked at me then tried to catch a look at Gaara behind me. Not being able to see him properly dad got up and walked towards us with his serious face.

"Dad this is Gaara, Gaara this is my dad Tomo Hiten"

Neither one said anything; they just kind of had a glaring match.

"Where are you from, haven't seen you around before" dad asked after a long silence

"I am the kazekage from the land hidden in the sand, I was here on business"

"kazekage or not, if you lay one hand on my daughter..." he stopped mid-sentence and seemed to be thinking hard for a few moments "you don't have a dog do you?"

"No.."

"The one with the dog is Kiba dad"

"THERE'S TWO!"

"I didn't want to have to do this to you dad but you leave me no choice, MUM!"

"What is it now?" she sighed walking up behind dad "oh hello, I don't believe we have met"

"Mum Gaara, Gaara my mum Takara Hiten"

"It's always nice to meet Suki's friends, come in, come in, there's plenty of food for everyone"

"We would love to but..."

"Dear why don't you go put your feet up, I'll bring lunch in soon" she said pushing dad into the living area

"But..."

"Come on you two; don't want everything to get cold"

Dad gave in grumbling to himself as he sat down on the couch, with that problem fixed I gave Gaara a smile before continuing down the hall to the kitchen. Everything was quiet during lunch, I didn't really know what to say to him and with mum and dad in the other room I felt a little nervous.

"Sooo... do you ever take that gourd of?"

"No"

"Doesn't it get in the way?"

"No"

"... Why do you carry it?"

"It has my sand in it"

"Oh you're sand... of course... actually I think Naruto mentioned something about that... yeah that's right, he said it had a mind of its own or something like that, that it protects you. Is that true?"

"Yes"

"Sounds cool"

"Hmm"

After lunch I ended up walking him to the gate only to find Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Hinata checking back in.

"Hey guys!" I called out with a wave

They all turned to look at me, Hinata waved, Shino just continued what he was doing but Kiba didn't look too happy, my guess was something happened on the mission.

"Suki what are you doing here?" Hinata asked once we were all face to face

"I'm seeing off Gaara" I explained

"What are you doing here?" Kiba asked rather harshly

"I am Gaara of the village hidden in the sand; I can go where I please"

The air was thick with tension between those two, even Akamaru was growling, standing up for Kiba of course but I decided someone should probably step in soon.

"sooo... uhhh... well it was nice meeting you Gaara, I hope you have a safe trip, next time you come don't be shy ok, ill treat you to lunch or something... away from my house" I said with a small giggle

He broke the glare with Kiba and nodded before walking out of Konoha, once he was gone I sighed a little relived that the tension was gone to.

"What were you doing with him?" Kiba asked me

"Like I said, I was seeing him off" I shrugged turning around and heading back into the city "so how was the mission?"

"It was a standard mission" Shino said "everything was completed as requested"

"Then what's with grumpy?" I asked hinting at Kiba "oh let me guess, no bad guys right?"

"HEY!" Kiba shouted

"Is Naruto back yet?" Hinata asked quietly cutting Kiba off

"Not yet"

I heard the loud dong of the clock tower signalling 3oclock, I was on the outskirts of Konoha and my class was going to be at my house in 30 minutes, and I hadn't even set up the gym yet.

"Oh man, I have to go, I'm going to be late for the lessons, dinner tonight at the usual place?"

I didn't wait for an answer, I sprinted of and headed towards the gym, I managed to get it set up just in time for everyone to arrive. After classes I headed upstairs to change, I got changed into a free flowing black skirt that I didn't like to wear that much but I hadn't done my washing so it was all I head. I also put on a long sleeve black shirt that was a little tight showing of my curves and a loose dark blue shirt over top that reached just below my chest then I brushed my hair down and grabbed my dark blue headband. Once I was dressed and clean I headed downstairs and put my blue ninja shoes on I got from Hinata a while back and headed out.

Mum and dad had night training with a few of the students from the academy so I was extra happy to have people back I could eat with. Once I entered I noticed 3 things wrong, 1 Akamaru was nowhere in sight, 2 Lee was here and 3 Kiba wasn't.

"Hey guys, room for one more?" I asked smiling at them

"You look nice Suki" Hinata blushed

"Thankyou Hina, so Lee Lee didn't know you were back, where are the others?"

"They could not make it" he announced

"I see... and Kiba?"

"He said he had things to do" Hinata quietly said

"Who needs dog boy when we have Lee Lee" I smiled brightly

I took my seat next to Hinata and we all started to talk happily, well Shino didn't talk much but he did point out whenever Kiba did something reckless on the mission. Even though I was happy and having fun I found my mind drifting to Kiba, it wasn't like him to miss out on a meal like this not without telling someone in great detail why he was missing out, normally something to do with his mum.

"Did you want one of us to walk you home?" Hinata asked as we stood outside

"I'll walk you home! It's my job as a shinobi" Lee announced

"I'll be fine; I'll see you guys later"

I headed home and by the lack of lights on in the house I guessed my parents weren't home still so I decided to go for a little walk. I was just wandering around with no destination in mind only to end up outside Kiba's house, I knew that Hinata said he was busy but something about it just didn't seem right so I walked up to his front door and knocked on it. His mum answered the door looking down at me, she was a nice lady... most of the time but she did have a bit of a temper and it was impossible to tell what kind of mood she was in.

"Yes?"

"Is Kiba home?"

"Yeah" she said moving away "he's in his room"

I walked inside and she closed the door behind me then started to walk away.

"Down the hall on the left" she called out

_"Well he can't be too busy if she's letting me see him..."_

I walked down the hall to his room that had a large 'KEEP OUT' sign on the door; with a slight chuckle to myself I knocked on the door. He pulled the door open with an annoyed expression but once he realised it was me his face changed completely, he didn't say anything, he just stood there staring at me making me feel rather uncomfortable.

"Stop staring at me like that" I yelled with a blush

"You look nice"

I was sure my face was red all over by this point; all I could do was giggle nervously.

"I'm home!" a girl called out

Kiba looked terrified then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into his room, I was going to yell at him but he held his hand over my mouth and pulled me close to his chest.

"I'm just grabbing a few things then I'm heading back out, new mission just came up" the voice called through the house

I heard footsteps walk past his closed door a few times until they yelled out a bye and the front door was closed, he let me go with a sigh and moved over to his bed where Akamaru was sleeping.

"What was that about?" I asked still blushing

"My sister" he said simply

"Uhuh... so where were you tonight?"

"I was doing stuff"

"Oh... I was hoping you would be at dinner"

He muttered something under his breath and I thought I heard Gaara's name but I wasn't too sure.

"Did something happen?"

"What are you on about?"

"... were friends right? So that means you can tell me things... like when something is bothering you"

"Do you like anyone?" he asked suddenly

I did not expect that, and I didn't have any idea where that came from, it wasn't because Kiba liked me... right?

"wh-why do you want to know?" I asked blushing again

"You said were friends right, so tell me"

"Not exactly what I meant... if I tell you will you tell me why you really missed dinner?"

"Fine"

"To be honest... I don't know, I mean there is one guy that I'm kinda close with but I dunno... I guess I do kinda like him"

"Who is it?"

"I'm not telling you!" I shrieked

"Is it that sand boy?"

"What Gaara? I only just met him today" I pointed out "now tell me what's bothering you"

"It's your birthday soon right?"

"Uhhh yeah..."

_"He's changing the subject on me?"_

"And you'll be 15 ay?"

"17" I corrected with a frown

"I'm going by your height" he smirked

I continued to frown at him, I knew I wasn't the tallest person around but still I did not look like a 15 year old.

"Are you doing anything?" he asked looking down at Akamaru

"Not really" I shrugged

"That's good"

"Good? You're acting strange Kiba"


	5. Chapter 5

It wasn't just Kiba that was acting strange either, everyone else was to, they even started to ignore me and run off in the other direction, I had no idea what was going on, if it was something I did or if something happened. I tried talking to a few of them but they said everything was fine but then they would always say they had to leave and run off, I was starting to feel like they didn't want me around so I stopped looking for them, I didn't want to push them further away than I obviously already had.

It was the night before my birthday and I had returned home late from taking the night training class and all I wanted to do was go to my room and sleep but as I entered the house mum and dad were both standing there.

"Uhhh is everything ok?"

"You will be 17 tomorrow" mum said

"Yeah" I agreed with a small nod "is that all, I'm really tired and..."

"Come with us ok"

"... Fine" I sighed

I was turned around and walked towards the gym, I had no idea what they were doing, probably wanted me to clean it now instead of tomorrow or something. As I entered I saw everyone standing there, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Sai, Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, Shino, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji, they were all standing there and most of them were smiling, even Sai was smiling at me.

"What is all this?"

"It's you're party of course" Naruto announced

"But... I thought... YOU MEAN THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE BEEN IGNORING ME!" I shouted

"It was a surprise" Hinata explained

"So you're all so bad at keeping secrets you had to hide from me?" I asked bursting into laughter "oh wait, my birthday isn't until tomorrow..."

"We wanted to give you your present today" Naruto explained

"My present?"

Akamaru walked forward with a scroll tied to his collar, I took of the scroll and looked it over, it looked like a mission scroll or something. A little confused I opened it up and saw it was a mission scroll, all my friends had been hired as bodyguards for a week and they all leave tomorrow, I didn't see what this had to do with me until I saw my name printed on it.

"But... I don't... how?" I asked lowering the scroll

"We all pitched in" Sakura explained "that's why we've been working so much lately"

"What a bother" Shikamaru sighed but he seemed to be smiling a little

"You said you wanted to go on a vacation right?" Kiba asked

"Yeah but... I mean..."

"And you didn't want to go alone" Ino added

"I know but..."

"We all couldn't get time off at the same time so we came up with a plan" Naruto continued to explain

"You hired all of us as bodyguards while you go on a vacation" Kiba finished

"But..." I looked back at mum and dad who were smiling

"It's ok, they talked to us, how could we say no when you have 13 shinobi looking after you" mum smiled

"Thank you, thank you" I said as tears fell from my eyes

If I was asked I don't think I could have told you a moment where I had been so happy, I thought that maybe they didn't like me but they were all working hard for me, they all did this for me.

"Now look what you did, you made her cry" Sakura said hitting Naruto

"WHAT DID YOU HIT ME FOR!" he shouted

"Are you ok?" Hinata asked walking up to me

"I'm fine Hina" I said smiling "I'm just so happy"

"Time for my present!" dad shouted holding a small box over my head

I took the box in my hand and started to open it, inside was pepper spray, I looked back at him with a 'why?' looked.

"If those boys try anything, hit them with this got it"

"I'll be fine dad, the only one I'll have to watch out for is Sasuke, look at him undressing me with his eyes" I said with a smirk

Until I said his name Sasuke wasn't even looking at me, he was looking at the apparently extremely interesting wall next to him.

"Which one is this Sasuke" dad growled walking in front of me

"Uhhh the orange one"

_"If he can survive Sakura he can survive my dad"_ I thought with a nervous chuckle _"I hope"_

"No wait I'm not Sasuke" Naruto said waving his arms in front of him as dad walked closer

While dad was beating up Naruto Hinata looked extremely worried, I put my hand on her shoulder then smiled.

"Don't worry, dad won't hurt him... I don't think it's possible to hurt the knucklehead"

She smiled at me then pulled something out of her pocket "here"

"What is it?" I asked picking it up

"It's a healing ointment, I made it for you"

"Thankyou Hina"

"I got you something to!" Lee announced proudly walking up to me

I unwrapped the present slightly frightened by what was inside; it was a green jumpsuit, just like his.

"Wow" was all I could say

"I knew you would like it" he beamed

"Thank you Lee... it's... wow"

He walked off with a huge smiled and I put the thing down on the table near the wall along with the scroll and Hinata's healing ointment. When I turned around I noticed there was a small line standing there with most of them holding something behind their back, Choji walked up to me first and gave me a packet of chips.

"These are my favourite flavour" he told me

"Maybe we could share them tomorrow?" I offered with a smile

"ALRIGHT!" he shouted out

Next was Sai who just held out the present for me, after unwrapping it I noticed it was a book with the title 'how to make friends' written on it, I couldn't help but laugh a little at it.

"Maybe this will help you and I become friends?"

"Don't listen to page 5" he warned me

"Sai, did you just talk to me?"

"The first step to becoming friends is communication"

"Does this mean you forgive me?"

"The book says sometimes people deserve a second chance"

"Thankyou Sai"

_"I can't believe he just talked to me, he really is a sweet guy... guess Sasuke is at the bottom now"_ I thought to myself watching him leave

"Here you go Suki"

Sakura gave me a dark purple thick ribbon that I could use in my hair, like me Sakura also used to wear headbands, well she still does only it's the Konoha head protector now.

"Thank you; I don't have one this colour!"

"Out the way billboard brow"

"What did you say? Ino-pig?"

They were about to start fighting again but they seemed to have a silent agreement that I didn't know about, they stopped glaring at each other and Sakura walked away from it, something I had never seen.

"These are for you, there from our shop"

She handed me a bouquet of the most pretty, sweet smelling flowers I had seen in a beautiful crystal vase.

"Thank you so much, their beautiful"

Once Ino walked off I noticed, much to my surprise, Sasuke was walking towards me.

"Did you need something?"

"Happy birthday" he muttered before turning and walking away

"Thankyou" I called out to him which only made him walk faster

_"That was strange..."_

"Meet me outside in precisely 10 minutes"

I jumped at the sudden voice, turning to my right I saw Shino standing there looking the same as always.

"Ahh"

"10 minutes" he repeated walking towards the door

_"Ok I change my mind that was strange"_

"That boy won't bother you anymore" dad said walking towards me

"What did you do to him?"

"I just had a friendly man to man chat"

That made me worry, I looked around the room until I spotted him tied up in the corner jumping around trying to free himself.

_"He's a ninja who can't get free from a rope... oh Naruto"_

I walked towards him with a sigh, he had his back facing me while he was struggling to get free, I poked his head making him jump and nearly fall to the ground.

"Oh it's just you, man your dad is scary, why did you tell him I was Sasuke"

"Because Sasuke probably would have fought back" I giggled

"Help me out of this thing will ya"

After untying him he dug into his pockets and pulled out a piece of paper holding it out for me with a huge grin. I took hold of it reading what it said '1 free meal' was written on it in really bad hand writing.

"I was going to give you ramen but I ate it" he confessed rubbing the back of his head

"I'll just have to use this and make you by me some at Iruchi's" I giggled "thank you Naruto"

"Man what a drag, I've been looking for you"

"Hello Nara, what brings you to our love corner?" I smiled facing his now blushing face "I'm kidding Shikamaru, don't need to look so scared, anyway what can I help you with?"

"Here"

He handed me a present and I was a little surprised he actually managed to get up the energy to go out and get me something, let alone wrap it but after everything else I guess I should have expected it.

"Shogi?" I asked looking up at him

"We could play together some time"

"You would have to teach me how to" I smiled at him

"Sure" he said turning and walking away

"Oh damn it's probably been 10 minutes!"

I ran over to the table I was keeping my gifts and placed my two new ones down before ducking outside, I wandered around for a minute but I couldn't see Shino anywhere. I stood near the road trying to think what he said, I was pretty sure he just said to go outside, I was about to head inside to see if he was there when I spotted him near the end of the street.

"Shino!" I called out to him

He didn't say anything but I knew it was him, as I ran towards him he walked away from me. He went into the nearby park and didn't stop until he neared the small pond that was there, I caught up to him pretty fast but before I could ask what was going on a bunch of fireflies gathered over the water. I watched in amazement as they formed the words 'Happy Birthday' it was so beautiful.

"Shino... I don't know what to say... thank you, it's so beautiful"

After the fireflies flew away Shino and I walked back together, he didn't say anything but every now and then I would swear I saw a small hint of a smile on his face. As far as I could tell no one noticed Shino and I leaving or returning, which was good really, I didn't want dad freaking out again. I hadn't long been back when Tenten and Neji both walked up to me.

"You guys finally close the deal?" I asked smirking a little at Neji's blushing face

"Not yet" Tenten laughed making Neji blush even further

Tenten was one of the only people who joined in with my jokes, especially if they were about Neji; it's one of the things I loved about her.

"We have a present for you"

"Here" Neji said recovering from his embarrassment

I opened it up and found a kunai, I had seen real ones before but I never really touched them, heavier than I thought it would be but the one thing on my mind now was why.

"So you can protect yourself when were not around" Neji explained

"When we get back from our vacation... opps I mean mission ill teach you how to use it ok?" Tenten offered

"Really?"

"Sure, no point if you don't know what you're doing right?"

"Thank you so much, both of you, it's perfect"

Mum and dad left the small party after a little while and soon enough the others started leaving as well, it was getting late and we planned on leaving fairly early tomorrow morning so I decided to stay back and tidy up so I didn't have to tomorrow.

"Did you want us to help?" Hinata asked

"No its fine, there isn't much to do, just got to make sure everything is in order"

_"If I'm going to be away I should make some kind of lesson plan or something for whoever is filling in"_

"Well see you tomorrow then" Sakura waved

"Bye!" I called out waving to them

After they left I went back inside, I had only just pulled out my folder when I heard the front door opening.

"What did you forget now air-head?" I sighed expecting it to be Naruto

When there was no response I turned around and saw Kiba standing there looking a little nervous, which was strange for him.

"Oh, sorry about that, thought you were Naruto... is everything ok?"

"We decided one of us should help out... I lost"

"Oh... well... I guess you could see if there's any rubbish lying around..."

He nodded then started to look around the room while I started my plan, I didn't really do much, I just wrote down what I was teaching them and what they needed to work on, took me about 5 minutes all up. Once I was finished I put my book back in the shelf and went to help Kiba who had already finished, he helped me carry my presents to my house which I just placed inside near the door then I turned around only to see he was already at the street.

"Ummm" I called out

"Yeah?" he said facing me

"I could walk half the way if you want... it's the least I can do for making you help me"

"If you want" he shrugged walking down the street

I caught up to him and we walked in silence, his house wasn't too far from my own, between a 5 to 10 minute walk, depending on how fast you were going, tonight it seemed we were both walking slow. Eventually we came to the cross roads where we both stopped.

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, body guard" I smiled

"Here" he said holding out a small box

"What's this?"

"Just open it" he grumbled turning his head away

I took the box from him and opened it, inside was a silver charm bracelet with a dog paw on it, I picked it up looking it over, it was beautiful.

"Look at the back"

I turned the paw over in my hand following his instructions only to find a small dog and a small fish engraved there, side by side.

"Kiba it's... I don't... thankyou Kiba"

By this point he had his back completely to me so I snuck up behind him wrapping my arms around his waist and leaning my head on his back.

"Thank you for everything, dog boy" I whispered

"You're welcome, fish girl" he whispered back touching my hand slightly

We stayed like that for only a few seconds, but those few seconds felt like a lifetime making my heart pound in my chest, I quickly pulled back turning my back on him trying to hid my red face.

"So ill ummm see you to-tomorrow then?"

"Uhhh yeah... tomorrow"

We both turned around to look at each other at the same time only to both quickly say bye and run off home. Once I got home I went straight up to my room lying face down on my bed trying to calm myself down, which was a wasted effort as that hug and the slight brush of his hand on mine played over and over in my head.


	6. Chapter 6

I was woken up extra early that morning and after forcing myself out of bed I started to pack for the trip.

_"I knew I should have done this last night"_ I thought with a yawn

I couldn't sleep last night with Kiba on my mind so I decided to look up where I was going to get my mind off it, it turns out it was a place I hadn't been before and it was near the beach. I knew where everything was and what to pack but even so I wasn't exactly a morning person, considering we would be walking I put on my cargo pants and a singlet with a loose jacket over top and my ninja shoes packing my others just in case. Once I was ready I said goodbye to mum and dad and headed to the gate, everyone was already there by the time I got there and they all looked so... awake.

"Good morning Suki!" Lee said smiling

"Morning" I grumbled with a yawn

"What's up with you, you look worse than Shikamaru" Naruto pointed out

I looked over at Shikamaru who had his hands in his pocket looking a little worn out himself, but then again he always did.

"Rara always looks like that" I mumbled yawning once more

"Rara?" Shikamaru asked looking over at me

"To tired, now Rara" I explained

I was half way through a yawn when I noticed something coming towards me, my body acted on its own bending backwards to dodge whatever it was being thrown at me. I heard the sound of it hitting the ground behind me then a small splash of something cool and wet hit my skin, I let back further with my head pretty much on the ground and saw a wet spot and the remains of a water balloon.

"Do you need help Suki?" Hinata asked rushing to my side

I pushed myself back up so I was standing up again and looked around trying to find out which one of them it was. Another one came at me and I quickly flipped back as it hit where my feet were, after a quick scan of the group I noticed one person was missing, the only person that would do this.

"KIBA GET OUT HERE NOW!" I shouted dodging another water balloon

"Man I thought I could get you when you were tired" he sighed jumping down from on top of the Konoha gate

He jumped down from the gate with a grin but before I could tell him off Neji pointed out that we should get moving if we wanted to get there by nightfall. We kept up a pretty fast walking pace which was fine, after Kiba's little attack on me I was wide awake now but still by the time lunch rolled around I was too tired to even think about food.

"Aren't you hungry Suki?" Sakura called out

"Too excited" I lied with a smile

_"Their probably going slow for me... I don't want to slow them down even further... it's not much further, I can do it"_

"Hey"

I looked up brushing my fringe back and saw Kiba standing over me.

"Yeah what is it? Come to throw another water balloon at me, which by the way I'm going to get you back for"

"Here" he said dropping a rice ball in my lap "you should eat, we have a long road ahead of us still"

"Don't tell me that" I groaned looking down at my lap

"What?"

"Oh nothing, thanks Kiba" I waved off

Once he walked away I slowly started to pick at the rice ball, I know I should have been starving, especially after watching Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Choji, Kiba and Lee eat, anyone would think they hadn't eaten in days but I was more worried about my feet, I swear I was getting blisters. I took my shoes off and as far as I could see there was nothing there, a little red but other than that fine.

_"I guess my feet are tougher than I thought"_ I sighed relieved

Not wanting to get blisters I grabbed out my bandages and wrapped them around my feet and ankles before putting my shoes back on, I also took of my jacket; it was getting a little warm with it on.

"I knew something was up" Kiba said right behind me

"Wha-what are you on about?" I huffed

"You were starting to slow down before we stopped and you've got you're bandages on..."

"I slowed down because I was getting hungry ill have you know and the only reason I put them on is because I'm used to wearing them, felt weird without them"

"If you're tired just say so, we can slow down..."

"What just because I'm not a ninja that means I can't possibly keep up with you guys when you're only walking"

"No one thinks that..."

"I'm fine Kiba" I sighed feeling a little guilty "I promise if I get to tired ill yell out ok?"

He walked away not saying a word which was never a good thing, when Kiba got an idea stuck in his head he stuck with it till the very end, no matter what it was, that was one of the good things about him, he was loyal but it was also a little annoying. Not long after Neji called out for everyone to start moving again and I stood up with a sigh, after resting for a little while I was feeling better but still I knew at some point I would have to surrender and give in.

Before I could get too far Lee stepped in front of me with a smile that was borderline perverted.

"Is everything ok?" I asked him

"Considering its you're birthday why don't you allow me to carry you princess"

"What now?" I asked stepping back a little

"Come don't be shy" he said turning around and crouching down a little

_"Kiba I'm going to kill you!"_

"I'm good"

"He has a point, you shouldn't have to walk all the way there, it is you're birthday" Sakura pointed out "hey Naruto, carry her!"

"Why do I have to!" he shouted out

"What trouble" Shikamaru sighed

"What was that Shikamaru, are you volunteering?" Ino asked cracking her knuckles

"I didn't say anything" he panicked

I watched as Ino stalked Shikamaru and Sakura stalk Naruto, and of course Lee was still trying to convince me to get onto his back, it was all getting a little much.

"ENOUGH!" Neji shouted out shocking us all "why don't we let her decide?"

Next thing I knew all eyes were on me, one of my downfalls was I didn't know how to handle it when everyone paid attention to me, most of the time I just froze or I would say something stupid making them all laugh at me and this was no different.

"Neji!" I shouted out

"No way" he answered within seconds

"But you said anyone, right Neji?"

"She's got you there" Naruto laughed

"I'm the team leader, so I can't"

"Who said you're the team leader!" Naruto shouted out

"Why doesn't Akamaru just carry her" Sasuke said breaking up the fight that was about to happen

Everyone turned towards Akamaru who was lying at Kiba's feet.

"Why does Akamaru have to do it?" Kiba protested

"Unless you want to..." Neji started to say

"Fine" he grumbled

"You want me to be carried by the fluff ball?" I gulped

"He's not a fluff ball! Show her Akamaru"

Akamaru jumped up and came running at me, before I knew it I was on his back and he was running really fast. With my eyes wide open I laid down as flat as I could holding onto him, trying not to pull his fur or anything, after a few seconds I heard a whistle then I was back with the rest of the group with Kiba smirking proudly.

"Good boy Akamaru"

"Alright lets go" Neji said

"Waiahhhh"

Akamaru with everyone else had already started running so I had no choice but to hold on, I knew he carried Kiba around and jumped through trees and stuff but still, I just didn't trust him like Kiba did, besides if I fell I wouldn't be able to stop it like the others would be able to. Because I was riding on his back we reached our destination just as the sun was setting, the second Akamaru stopped I quickly got off before he could run off again.

"Thankyou boy" I whispered patting his head

We went to the inn we were booked into then after dinner we all went to bed, it had been a long day and even though I wasn't running it was tiring holding on for dear life. The next day we all went to the beach together, played games and just had a lot of fun, the most fun I've had in ages and by the looks of it the others would have agreed with me. The next 3 days were the same until we went into town and found a small group of people gathering around something. Determined to find out what was happening Naruto pushed his way into the crowd while Neji muttered that he was an idiot and activated his Byakugan to see what was happening.

"There's a circus" he concluded turning away

"That reminds me Neji, I have some to talk to you about with those eyes of yours" I frowned "honestly you can't go around looking at people with those x-ray eyes, it's just not right, people will think you're a pervert"

"A circus?" Sakura asked "way out here?"

"Hey guys it's a circus!" Naruto called out running back from the mass of people "who wants to go!"

"Seems like such a drag, just look at all the people" Shikamaru sighed

"I want to get some lunch" Choji announced

"Come on, you want to go right Hinata?"

"Oh well... it might be fun... what do you think Suki?"

"Huh?" I asked turning to face them

"Haven't you been listening?" Naruto asked

"Sorry guys" I chuckled "so what's happening?"

"There's a circus in town" Hinata explained

"Circus huh..."

"I don't know why it would be way out here though" Sakura sighed

"Who cares, let's go!" Naruto shouted

"You don't happen to know the name of it do you?"

"No why?" Naruto asked

"Oh well I've heard about a circus that moves around a lot, never stays in one place longer than 2 weeks... their meant to be really good... I wouldn't mind... going to see"

"LET'S GO THEN!" Naruto shouted walking off

It took us a while but eventually we were sitting down inside the large tent, with all the people around and the commotion I forgot to look at the name as well but something told me this was it, this was my old home. The show started and the vaguely familiar faces started to show up, I watched like a child at everything that happened, it was all so familiar but all so new to. I was especially looking forward to seeing what they did with my roll, a girl, or more a woman was announced as the tightrope walker, she was small and could pass of being a teenager and even I had to admit she was extremely talented. I watched sitting at the edge of my seat going over everything in my mind until I saw her make a mistake, I looked around at everyone else, they didn't seem to notice but I did.

Her foot slipped but she managed to make it part of her act, it was fine, even I slipped sometimes but the way it happened, I was almost positive she would have twisted something. I couldn't really focused on anything else, I don't know why but I was really worried about the lady, I guess maybe because I felt her pain or something, I don't know. By the end of the show we were all walking out happily but I couldn't let this go.

"Oh hey, I forgot something, I'll meet you guys at the inn ok?"

Before they could answer I ran back to the circus tent and slipped around the back were everyone was, it was like I was returning home and any second now mum and dad would welcome me, but all that welcomed me here were stares.

"Are you lost little girl?" Mugen, the announcer asked me

"Little girl? I'll have you know I'm 17 and I'm not lost... I came to see the lady from the wire..."

"I'm sorry but Seira is a bit busy right now..."

_"They don't recognise me... I didn't think I changed that much"_

"I know that, she hurt herself right? I just wanted to bring her this" I smiled pulling out Hinata's healing ointment

"Who are you?" he asked looking at me more closely

"My name is Suki Hiten; I'm the daughter of Takara and Tomo Hiten, the former owners of this traveling circus"

The second I finished talking everyone that knew both me and my parents stopped what they were doing and crowded me welcoming me back.

"Suki I hardly recognise you, look how much you have grown" Mugen commented squishing my face

"You're still as short as ever but you're coming out nicely if you know what I mean" Fakir, the known pervert said looking me over

"I'm not into older guys" I huffed turning my head

"Yeah you tell him!" a few people shouted

"Shot down!" others shouted

"I can't stay long..." I tried to explain

"Where are you parents? Are they here?"

"No I'm here with friends, which is why I can't stay long, just came to see if she was ok..."

"She will be, might have to cancel the act for tomorrow"

"That bad?" I asked shocked

"Oh no but no point in making it worse, she should rest"

"Oh I see... but what are you going to do instead?"

"We were going to send out the backups, you remember Tamara and Suichi"

"Uhhh yeah sure'

"But now that you're here..."

"I'm here as a costumer" I explained quickly

"It will just be for one performance, please" he asked getting on his knees with everyone else doing the same

"Ahh... ok fine" I sighed giving in to their pleas

"The show starts after lunch tomorrow so come here in however much time you need to prepare"

"Right..." I sighed regretting it already

"Your friends can even have free tickets!" he exclaimed handing me a bunch of them

They started to push me away waving and shouting out 'goodbye' and 'see you tomorrow'; I walked away from the tent with a sigh.

_"How am I meant to explain this..."_

* * *

><p><strong>And I'm back! will be posting everyday... actually make that every second day ^-^' still have other stories I'm working on. Anyway don't forget to review (sorry for taking so long) and I'll see you all in two days<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

The next day Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Tenten and I all went shopping, the whole time I was out with them I found myself thinking about the time. I had to somehow tell them what I was doing but I knew that was going to be hard, I never meant to be so secretive about my past, it just never came up and people started coming up with their own conclusions. It got to the point where it was too late to fill them in, to bring it up now would be like I was trying to hide it from them, or that I didn't trust them but I didn't see much choice anymore, I never thought in my wildest dreams I would ever be at this moment.

"Uhhh... guys... ca-can I talk to you for a moment..."

"Is there something wrong?" Hinata asked me

"You've been acting strange all day" Sakura pointed out to me

"Well..."

_"This isn't a big deal, just tell them the truth, it never came up, laugh it off then it's all fine... it's not a big deal... it's not..."_

The fear of my friends laughing at me returned, ever since I was born I was raised in a circus, never staying in the same place for longer than 2 weeks. I tried making friends despite knowing I would be leaving soon but they all laughed at me calling me a freak... I didn't understand at the time but thinking back on it I guess I was a little strange. After a while I stopped trying and became consumed in my training until I was the best that ever existed, I didn't know any better, I didn't want to know better.

I guess that's why my parents decided to move to a more stable home, doing that was the worst thing in the world to me though. I refused to make friends, refused to talk to people, refused to become a part of Konoha. I first met Hinata, Kiba and Shino when they came to what I considered my training ground, within the first 5 seconds of meeting Kiba and I started fighting, Hinata was trying to break it up and Shino was just standing on the side lines.

From that one meeting I met Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and eventually everyone else, at first I didn't really talk to them at all but after a while once I realised I wasn't leaving this place I started to open up to them and now here we are. It's not a sad tale like Sasuke's or Naruto's but it's my tale, I never really think about my circus days anymore, now they are just like a dream but like with anything, it always comes back around.

"There's something I want you all to know... Naruto and the other guys as well"

"What is it?" Ino asked

"Well... here, take these, I'll explain after ok?" I said handing them the tickets

"The circus?" Sakura asked looking down at them

"Make the guys come to ok!" I called out running off down the street

_"They are my friends and much stranger then me"_ I thought with a small chuckle _"everything will be fine, it will be"_

"Hey guys!" I called out running into the tent "where do you need me?"

"Suki! I thought you weren't coming, the show starts in an hour!" Mugen shouted running towards me "we have no time to loose, quickly now, get changed"

I was dragged off by a few of the girls and stuffed into what could only be described as a swim suit, a two piece for that matter.

"I can't go out like this!" I shrieked covering my middle

"You used to wear this" they pointed out

"That was a one piece for starters and I was 11 years old!"

"That's why you have a two piece now" they smiled at me

They started to do my make up and put sparkles all over me that would take me days if not weeks to get rid of then they went to do my hair but that's where I stopped them.

"Leave it down; it's near impossible to tie up anyway"

"But..."

"It's always been this way" I explained

"I don't know if these will fit you but here"

I looked over and saw the girl that was meant to be doing this holding out her shoes.

"It's ok... old habit I actually keep mine with me" I chuckled pulling my shoes and bandages out of my bag "but do you have any gloves I could use?"

"Sure" she smiled handing them to me

They were a little loose but they wouldn't fall off so it was fine, after that I ran out towards the tent to learn what it was they wanted me to do. Once I saw them putting up 3 near enviable wires I stopped running and walked slowly in not believing my eyes.

"Beautiful isn't it" Mugen said behind me

"Uhhh... You realise I haven't been preforming all this time right?"

"That's why this is perfect"

_"HOW IS THIS PERFECT!"_ I shouted in my head

"It's going to be a game" he explained "there will be 4 rounds and all you have to do is win"

"4 rounds of what?"

"The rules are simple, you fall and you lose, you get hit and you lose"

"HIT!"

"you just have to dodge things, should be easy for you" he waved off "now the first round will last 2 minutes with one minute adding to each round, oh there 2 ways for you to win, one wait for the time limit or two hit them, that reminds me, you will need these"

He handed me a belt that had 7 small bags connected to it.

"Inside each bag are two small balls filled with paint, you can use that to hit the others and try not to get the crowd"

"Sure..." I said putting the belt on "I just have one question"

"What is that?"

"Who am I versing?"

"First it will be the clowns from below, then the strong men and after that are the acrobatic girls with the horses"

"Strong men? There's more than one?"

"You remember his apprentice Rain"

"Yeah, I used to help him practice"

"They preform together now"

"Wow, but wait you missed out the last round..."

"I'll leave that a surprise, now hurry the show is about to start"

I was pushed out as the crowed started to enter, I was both excited and terrified, to put it simply I was nervous, I hadn't done a show in years plus my friends were going to be there. I tried peaking at the crowd looking for them but there were more people here then yesterday and it's not like I could just walk out there, yet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now for your entertainment I present to you our pride and joy for one day only, the wonderful, the amazing Suki!"

That was my cue to run out there, with a bright smile on my face and my heart pounding in my chest I ran out there waving to the crowd. The lights were on me blinding me a little so I was unable to search the crowd for my friends and before I had the chance to adjust he had already finished announcing the game and I was meant to get up on the tightrope. Using the spring bored near the side I jumped up to the lowest wire in the middle then on announcement the 3 clown guys came out and the game started.

With free range to show off to my heart's content I did, I jumped from wire to wire flipping here and there enjoying the thrill of it forgetting about everything and everyone around me, until a water balloon was thrown at me.

_"This is just like Kiba!"_ I thought as I dodged the balloons

I thought about using my paint but I still had no idea who the last people were so I just dodged them, waiting for the time to end. A horn was blasted and we all stopped giving a bow as Mugen announced Rain and Dai the 'strong men', they came out and the performance started after a quick bow to the crowd. They weren't fast so it was easy enough to keep away from them but they were throwing things like barrels, knifes, weights and everything they could get their hand on that would pretty much crush me.

It was hard dodging what they threw because everything was so big so my best bet was just staying far away but with two of them that was hard to do. It felt like forever before the timer went off and I was starting to get a little tired, I was out of practice, more then I liked to admit. After them it was the acrobatic girls and the horses, they were fast, or more the horses they were standing on were fast and they were throwing the small paint like I had on me. These 4 I knew I had to take out, they were too fast and they jumped around as much as I did.

By the time the horn sounded there was only one of them left; with a mutual respect for one another we gave each other a small wave before the next act was announced. I was surprised to see the twins Tamara and Suichi announced as 'Illusion Twins' and watching them jump around so fast I could see why, it looked like they were one person not two separate people. They were fast and they almost got me lots of time and they weren't graceful, they ran on the wire for seconds at the time before jumping to the next making them all wobble. I could tell by the way they jumped off that they weren't able to stay on such a thin wire for longer than seconds at the time; the only thing that kept them on at all was the momentum.

I threw my paint palates at them missing lots of times until I only had two left, this was it, we had only been at it for maybe 2 or 3 minutes and I didn't know how much longer I could keep this pace up and not fall. Something I learned from my ninja friends, I laid in waiting never showing my true talent until there was an opening.

"There" I shouted changing directions mid air

I don't know what one I was aiming at but the look on their faces told me they were done for, the paint hit them in the chest and after giving me a salute they jumped down running out of the tent. I didn't have time to rest, the other one was right on my tail, with her twin out she sought out revenge. I had to swing from the wire a few times catching myself thanking the lady for the gloves a thousand times over, without them my hands would have been cut to pieces.

We were near the end and currently standing opposite, we both know this was our last chance before the horn rang out the end of the game. She jumped up at me but she wasn't high enough, there was no way she would reach me and she would way over pass the second wire. I jumped up meeting her as she started to fall, we were a fair way of the ground and a fall like that wouldn't kill her but it would break a bone. The crowd gasped as she started to fall but I grabbed her hand giving her the boost she needed to at least grab hold of the next wire, the only problem was I was left to hang.

I reached out for the second wire but my momentum went into her, I heard my name get called out and I turned towards the person only to see Kiba standing up in the crowd with the others next to him looking worried.

_"They came"_

That gave me the boost I needed, there was no way I was losing while my friends were watching me, I spun my body around catching the wire with my ankle then once my other ankle was around it I leant forward so I could grab the wire pulling myself up into a crouch on the wire. Just as I stood up the horn sounded and there was an array of claps and cheers around the room, the twin jumped down from the wire with her other one running out giving her a hug knowing the danger she was in then they both smiled up at me. With a smile I waved back at them then jumped down, Mugen grabbed my arm holding it in the air announcing me as the winner and presenting me with flowers then I ran out the back where I was greeted by both those I knew and didn't know with them congratulating me and patting my on the head and back making me beam with pride.


	8. Chapter 8

Not long after the show finished and we were all out the back celebrating a job well done I heard a bit of a commotion, I turned around and saw everyone running towards me with others shouting that they weren't allowed back here.

"Wait, their my friends!" I called out walking towards them

"You sure Suki?"

"Yeah its fine Mugen"

"Very well" he said walking away

"Hi" I waved nervously

"You were great out there!" Naruto shouted running towards me

I currently had a long robe around me but with Naruto running at me I stopped holding it together reviling my two pieces underneath making Naruto fall back with a nose bleed. As I looked up I noticed the other guys were blushing and adverting their eyes, all but Sai... he was a little strange, with a blush of my own I quickly grabbed the ribbon that was currently around my neck and tied the robe together.

There was a silence looming over us, I guessed no one really knew what to say and I didn't know either so we just all stood there looking around the place.

"So... uh..." I started to say "umm... di-did you enjoy the show?"

"It was great" Sakura beamed "but..."

She stopped smiling and adverted her eyes from me; they were all thinking the same thing 'why didn't you tell us' so with a deep breath I stepped towards them.

"I never meant to lie... I just... when my parents moved me to Konoha my life before became nothing more than a dream... by the time we all became friends id come to terms that I wasn't going to have that life again so I guess I kind of forced myself to forget it... but you see... the thing is... this place, these people, their my home, my family... I-I mean when I was growing up..."

"I don't understand" Naruto said regaining consciousness

"My parents used to own this circus and I was born into it, for 12 years I lived with most of these people traveling from place to place performing shows much like what you saw today only I was better back then. But my parents sold the show to Mugen and took me away from it... Since then I have been in Konoha this life was such a long time ago to me now. I don't want any of you to think I lied to you, I mean I did but I didn't mean to... it just never came up... I've been happy with the life I have, not missing this one like I used to so I just... I guess I forgot how much I loved it here... my point is I'm sorry and I hope you forgive me" I ended with a bow

"I always knew there was something about you" Naruto smirked "I thought you were a secret ninja but I guess this is just as good"

"Just ask x-ray over there, he has no problem looking at my non-existent chakra" I giggled

Neji just huffed a little; he really didn't like it when I called him x-ray, especially when I went out of my way to call him that but yet Hinata Hina.

"You have to teach me those moves, like that wire trick!" Sakura smiled walking forward

"No you have to teach me!" Ino shouted pushing her

Before I knew it I was surrounded by my friends gaining their praises, soon I couldn't stop myself from bursting out into laughter making them all look at me strangely.

"I'm sorry I just... I was worried you would all hate me or something" I explained wiping my eyes

"We don't hate you, right guys?" Naruto asked

"Right" a lot of them said

The ones that didn't say anything just silently nodded.

"You must be hungry right? Let's go get something to eat!" Naruto shouted

They all started to walk off but I didn't follow them.

"Uhhh guys..." I started to say making them face me "yeah I'm going to change first"

The guys started to blush again and nodded quickly walking off.

"I'll meet up with you guys ok?" I told the girls

"Don't take too long" Hinata told me

"I won't, I'll catch up before you know it"

Once they were all gone I let out a reviled sigh and turned around to get changed only to face everyone else.

"You have interesting friends" Mugen stated

"Uhhh yeah, more than you know" I sighed with a small smile

"You never told them?"

_"Oops... probably should have talk to them away from here..."_

"I didn't lie to them but I didn't tell them the exact truth either... when my parents first moved me away I tried running back to the circus more times than I can remember. I even vowed not to speak to them until they returned me here, I never said a word to other people, I refused to believe I was stuck there so talking to others, making friends would mean I wasn't leaving for good. I loved this place, it was... still is my home and a part of me will always long to be here performing" I sighed holding my hand over my heart

"You could stay, were always happy to welcome you back" Mugen explained with the others agreeing

"Be fun to have my old training partner back" Rain said

"And some competition" the twins said together with a smirk

"I have so much I could learn from you" Seira smiled kindly

"Stay with us Suki" a few people called out with other agreeing

"I would love nothing more in this world to join you, from the bottom of my heart I would" I smiled letting my hand fall to my side

"So you'll stay?" Mugen asked with sparkly eyes

"Despite that though..." I started to explain "my life, how it is now... I'm happy, I have so many friends now and they all care about me even though we really have nothing in common. I love being with them, playing games, training, having fun... and maybe even falling for one of them" I blushed "Konoha is my home now and those people are my new family... I'll never forget any of you and I'll always have a place for you but my life has taken a new path now and even if that means I can't perform that's ok, I'm at peace with that, I'm happy. I can't say if I will always feel this way, maybe one day I will be called back here but until that day happens my life is in Konoha..."

I looked at the faces around me, I didn't know what to expect, I think maybe I thought some of them would be angry or maybe turn their backs on me thinking that's what I was doing but instead of that I saw sad faces, smiling faces, and even crying faces.

"well then" Mugen sighed "I know that face, it's the same one you're parents made when they moved away, go on, you better get changed, you're friends are waiting for you right?"

With a bright smile I nodded and ran off to get changed, after I was back in my own clothing I walked out of the tent to find everyone standing there smiling, well a few still had some tears but mostly smiling.

"Uhhh... here" I said holding out the gloves to Seira

"Keep them, as a memory of our new friendship" she smiled pulling me into a hug

I hugged her back thanking her before placing them into my bag with my shoes, Rain and Dai walked up to me after her, Rain gave me a pat on the shoulder wishing me luck while Dai was in tears, for a strong man he really was a big softie.

"I'm going to miss you Suki" he cried pulling me in for a bone crushing hug

"Going to miss you to" I gasped trying to get my breath back

"Sorry" he said lowering his head

"Nah its fine, just forgot how strong you were" I laughed off

Next up were the twins, they didn't look at me but they held up a charm of two fish wrapped around each other.

"We found it ages ago" one explained

"We kept it because the fish were like us... the same" the other finished

"We want you to have it" the both said together never once looking at me

"Are you sure?" I asked a little surprised

"It's for beating me" the one on the left said looking up at me

"And for saving me" the other said looking up at me

"So take it!" they both said moving it closer towards me

I took it from them and connected it to my bracelet; don't know what I would have done with it if I hadn't gotten this.

Nearly each person came up to give me a hug, or pat my head or shoulder, said goodbye and just made me feel a little guilty for leaving them but I had made my choice, this was my life but I have a new one waiting for me. I ran off to the restaurant we agreed to meet at for lunch, once I entered a few of them had already started eating but most were waiting for me, I sat down at my place but noticed an empty seat.

"Where's Kiba?" I asked looking around

"He wasn't with you?" Hinata asked me

"No why would he be?"

"He said he was going to wait for you" Choji explained with a half full mouth

"Oh well I didn't see him..."

"That's strange" Ino said "maybe Akamaru ran off or something?"

They all started to talked about what might have happened until it dawned on me, if Kiba stay back to wait for me then maybe, just maybe he heard what I said to them, after all he did have good hearing.

"Oh no" I whispered

"What's wrong Suki?" Hinata asked

"I have to go" I said dashing out of the building

I went to the circus first hoping that maybe Akamaru did run off and he was still waiting for me but I couldn't see him.

"Suki, back so soon?" Mugen asked "did you change your mind?"

"Have you guys seen Kiba? One of the people I was with... he has scruffy brown hair, a red strikes down both cheek... uhhh, oh and there's a large dog half his size that's always next to him"

"Sorry we haven't..."

"Damn he's not here" I muttered under my breath

"Is everything ok?"

"I think he overheard us and thinks I'm staying here... I don't know I just need to find him"

"Let us help you find him"

"No it's ok... I'm sorry to bother you"

I ran off again calling out his name but he never answered me, I even called out Akamaru's name hoping that maybe he would come or bark at least but there was nothing.

"Dammit Kiba come out please, it's not what you think" I whispered

I was on top of a hill overlooking the town and out of breath, after my performance I was tired and now all this running around, I felt like I was going to be sick but I wasn't going to stop, I had to find him. As I was stumbling back down the hill my foot got caught on a rock and I tumbled down, I ended up at the bottom of the hill with a few bumps and bruises but luckily no actual cuts, it wasn't that big a fall. It was however enough to make at least Akamaru worry about me, I heard him whine nearby but I wasn't a ninja so I couldn't place where it was from, as far as I knew it could have been a different dog to.

"Kiba... are you there?" I asked looking up at the trees

There wasn't a reply but I didn't expect there to be, I stayed sitting on the floor pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my head on them.

"Kiba please come down, or at least let me know if you're here... give me a chance to explain... please" I said with my eyes starting to water

"Man you're a mess" he sighed behind me

My head shot up but I didn't dare to turn and face him out of fear he would run off again.

"Could have been worse" I smiled

A silence fell over us, I heard him grumble and move around until I felt his back against mine, with something to lean on my body relaxed a little but I felt his stiffen.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked after a long silence

"Looking for you of course... Kiba it's not what you think I..."

"I heard what you said, you said you missed that place... that you wanted to stay" he cut in

"I know... but..."

"What about your parents? Didn't you think that maybe this might hurt them? And the others"

"And you?" I cut in

"As long as I have Akamaru I don't need anyone else" he scoffed

"Oh..." I sighed playing with the charm he gave me "look I'm not staying with them, you know when you listen in on others you should listen until the end"

"You're not staying? But you said you wanted to..."

"I know what I said and I wasn't lying but the things is..." my heart started to pound in my chest and my cheeks started to heat up "my home is in Konoha now and I can't leave that... and well you see... theirs this guy there... he's a bit rough around the edges but he's really nice... sometimes anyway, I really like him and I don't know if he feels the same or not but that doesn't matter... I guess I finally know what Sakura and Ino mean by falling for a guy"

"You like Sasuke to? Never thought I would hear that from you, I always thought Naruto would admit it before you did" he said with a sad laugh

"It's not Mr depressing, how could you even think that" I frowned

"Who is it then?"

"LIKE I'M TELLING YOU!" I screeched

A silence fell over us once more, I was fine with it, with just sitting here with Kiba, I could have stayed like this forever.

"You're really not going anywhere?"

"Really, as if I could leave you, who else am I going to fight with huh" I giggled trying to break the tension that was forming "I still owe you for attacking me with those water balloons after all"

"Heh like you could ever get me"

I reached behind me and whacked him on the head.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"

"Got you" I giggled

"... Do you miss performing? While you were on stage... I don't think I've ever seen you so happy before"

"Sure I miss it and I was happy... but you know it wasn't until you called out my name and I saw you there... well seeing you and everyone there, that made me truly happy, I don't think I could go back to moving around.. Not seeing you everyday"

"And the others"

"Huh?"

"You said seeing me everyday"

"No I didn't" I blushed

"I heard you!"

"You heard wrong then!" I shrieked

"You really worried me up there, I thought you were going to fall or something"

"Me fall? Never" I smirked

"But you almost did" he reminded me

"But I didn't did I"

"It was nice how you saved that kid..."

"I would do the same for anyone" I shrugged

"Even if it put you in danger?"

"I know how to land with the least amount of damage, she was the type that just charged and never really bothered learning stuff like that. Besides performing is what she does, if she got hurt too bad she might not perform again, I don't have to worry about that, performing isn't my life anymore"

"I wouldn't have let you fall" he muttered making my heart race

His hand was near my side holding himself up, with a shaky hand I placed mine over top of him making his body stiffen against mine.

"Wha-what are yo-you doing?" he stuttered

"I'm glad I met you, Kiba" I sighed leaning against him


	9. Chapter 9

That night while us girls were all in the room we sat on the floor just chatting until Sakura announced she wanted to play a game of truth or dare. Hinata wasn't too keen on the idea but the rest of us were, Sakura spun first with it landing on me but by the look in her eyes I had a feeling she may have cheated or something.

"Truth or dare"

_"She must have something planned... they all know I love dare... what could it be? Argh I can't do this!"_

"Truth"

"Really?" she asked surprised

"Yes" I nodded

_"Huh, now what is she going to do"_ I smirked inwardly

"I didn't expect you to choose truth straight away" she said with her lips curling into an evil looking smile

_"Oh bugger, she wanted me to choose truth!"_

"Who do you like?"

"Wha-what?" I panicked leaning back

"Yeah I want to know to" Tenten smiled leaning in closer

"Me to" Ino announced also leaning in

"Go on tell us" Sakura ordered

"I change my mind! I want dare!" I shrieked

"You can't change your mind, you have to tell us or you have to kiss Lee" Tenten announced

"Or Naruto" Sakura added in

"Well what makes you think I like anyone huh" I panicked

"You have to, Tenten likes Neji" Sakura explained

"Ino and Sakura like Sasuke" Tenten added in

"And Hinata likes Naruto" Ino finished making Hinata blush

"So who is it?" Sakura asked leaning over the bottle "go on tell us"

Tenten, Ino and Sakura were getting closer to me every second and I knew there was no way out of this.

"You swear not to tell anyone? Stays just between us right?"

"Of course" they all agreed

"Ki-Ki-Ki.." I couldn't finish my sentence; I had never admitted this out loud, not even to myself

"Go on" the 3 girls urged

"Kiba!" I said shutting my eyes tightly with my face growing hotter every second

"I KNEW IT!" Sakura shouted

"Man I thought it was Sai or something" Ino sighed

I opened my eyes and saw them all sitting back in their place.

"Yo-you knew?" I asked Sakura

"Well I suspected, you and him are always spending time alone together, you even ran after him today"

"Is it that obvious?" I blushed

"Only to us girls" Ino pointed out

"Yeah boys are hopeless, right Hinata?" Tenten asked

"Not all" she said quietly

"Have you told him yet?" Sakura asked

"NO WAY!"

"Why not?" Ino asked

"Well because... Gah it's my turn right?"

It landed on Ino who was dared to go out to where the boys where and hug Lee, we all crept behind her as she walked slowly out there as if to her doom. She gave Lee a hug who passed out from it then we all ran back to the room laughing confusing the others, after Ino it was Tenten, she chose truth and we found that that when they were all younger she had a crush on Sasuke making Ino and Sakura freak out. after Tenten was Hinata who also chose truth probably out of fear of us sending her to confess to Naruto, after a few more turns it landed on me again and thinking they couldn't do any worse to me I choose dare.

Ino chuckled evilly, worse than Sakura and I had to admit I was terrified.

"I dare you to kiss all the boys on the cheek"

"WHAT!" I shrieked

"Wait Ino, even Sasuke, Naruto and Neji?"

"Well... no everyone" she grinned

"As if they would let me" I huffed

"She's right about that" Tenten agreed

"Maybe we could tie them up" Hinata blushed

"That might work on Naruto but..." Sakura said deep in thought

"What about Shikamaru? He could hold them all with his shadow possession jutsu?" Ino said

"Yeah! Oh but wait how do we convince him to help us?" Tenten asked

"Oh I have a way" Ino grinned "I'll be right back"

She stood up and left the room, we all looked at each other with the same thought on our mind.

_"Poor Shikamaru"_

"Alright he's agreed to help us" Ino smiled poking her head in the room

We all got up and went into the hall were Shikamaru was standing there with his hands folded not looking to happy.

"Ok now Shikamaru"

"What a drag" he sighed

"What was that?" Ino growled

"Nothing" he said quickly

He stood out of sight of the others then preformed the jutsu, we knew it worked by all the others complaining that they couldn't move then soon after yelling at Shikamaru.

"Hurry up already, I can't keep this up forever" Shikamaru pointed out

"Go on!" Ino and Sakura said pushing me forward

"Suki? What's happening?" Naruto asked

"Don't blame me" I said walking towards Sasuke

I walked up to him and grabbed hold of his shoulders looking at him while I blushed.

"Wha-what are you doing?" he stuttered

I gave him a quick peck on the cheek making him freeze in place, next was Sai who looked a little panicked.

"I'm sorry about this Sai" I muttered before quickly kissing him on the cheek too

Next I went up to Neji who was struggling with all his might trying to get free knowing what was happening.

"You think I like this?" I hissed at him

I gave him a quick peck making him freeze in place, next was Shino, I had to admit I wasn't too keen on getting too close to him after all he had bugs inside of him but the punishment was running around without a shirt on so it was worth it.

"Sorry about this Shino" I told him before kissing him on the cheek

A blush appeared on his cheeks as he folded his arms looking away from me, next was Choji who looked terrified for his life. I gave him a quick peck then went up to Naruto who was looking around for an escape.

"No wait, don't!" he shouted at me

"You're not going to die Naruto" I told him closing my eyes as I kissed his cheek

Next was Lee who strangely enough didn't look too concerned with the idea which worried me.

"You ok Lee? Still alive?"

As I got closer to him I saw he was tense and his face was pretty much like a tomato, I guess he still hadn't recovered from the hug. I gave him a peck before I moved onto the last person, I was slightly hoping that maybe the jutsu would wear off and he would run away but no, Shikamaru was still holding them in place.

He wasn't struggling but his face was also extremely red as I walked closer to him, I couldn't help but hesitate a little as I stood in front of him. After working up the courage I finally lent in to kiss him but right at that moment the jutsu broke and Kiba turn his head ever so slightly making my lips fall on his. We both froze in place for a few seconds until our brains realised what was happening, we both pulled back staring at each other with red faces unable to move.

"I'M SORRY" I shouted running out of the room with my hand over my lips

I didn't care about anything other than getting out to the cold night air and cooling myself down, as I scrambled up on the roof so no one find me I held my hands over my mouth.

_"His lips were so soft"_ I thought blushing even more

"Suki!" I heard Hinata, Tenten, Sakura and Ino call out "where did you go?"

I held my breath and closed my eyes curling up as small as I could laying my head on my knees hoping they wouldn't find me, praying to become invisible.

"Well I'm sure she is fine" Ino said "come on let's get back"

"Yeah, I'll take her turn" Sakura said

"But... what about Suki?" Hinata said sounding worried

"I'm sure she will be fine" Tenten told her

I heard them all walk inside as the door closed once more, I left out a heavy sigh as I looked up at the night sky.

_"They didn't... tell Shikamaru to do that? Right?"_ I wandered to myself

I heard someone else come outside and I once again tried to blend in with the roof, I heard them walking around for a little while until they sighed.

"Man what was that all about" Kiba's voice sighed

_"Kiba!"_

I hand to put my hands over my mouth to stifle my squeal of fright. I heard him sigh once more than a frustrated groan.

"What was she thinking! Doing something like that! She's been acting weird all day!"

_"He must think I'm a total idiot"_ I sighed quietly

"But still..." he started to say with a small sigh

Before he could finish his sentence I heard Akamaru bark.

"What is it boy?"

Akamaru barked again then everything went quiet sending a wave of fear crashing down on me, it was never good when a ninja goes quiet.

"Hey, you're gonna catch a cold if you sit up here" he said right behind me

I curled up tighter still hoping that maybe there was a chance I would just vanish.

"ay, are you listening to me, I said you're gonna catch a cold" he said nudging my back with his foot "you can curl up as much as you want I'm still going to be able to see you"

"I know that" I huffed not removing my head from my knees "It's not like I'm dumb enough to think I could make myself invisible by wishing it"

"How did you get up here anyway?"

"Climbed... and jumped" I muttered

I heard him walk around until he was standing right in front of me making me wish even harder to become invisible.

"Come on, it's dangerous up here... you listening to me" he said kicking my foot this time

"I'll get down when I want to" I muttered

"Suit yourself" he sighed

I heard him moving and I thought he had left but then my worst nightmare came true as he sat down near me.

"So what was that all about anyway? With you kissing everyone?" he asked calmly

"Truth or dare... I chose dare" I sighed

"Is that why you guys have been running out doing strange things?"

"Yeah..."

"Girls" he scoffed

"Well what do you guys do for fun?" I asked raising my head a little

"Verse each other of course, bit hard when you girls keep coming out and distracting us"

"All you guys were doing was playing Ping-Pong"

"Exactly"

"Boys" I sighed shaking my head looking up at the sky "it's beautiful tonight..."

"There just stars, what's the different from back home?"

"Because this isn't home, its somewhere else, everything is better somewhere else but of course nothing is better than home"

"What?"

"It's a girl thing" I giggled

"Right... how did you convince Shikamaru to help you? He wouldn't even verse any of us"

"I don't know, Ino took care of it... I imagine it's a lot like Sakura 'taking care' of Naruto..."

"Scary" he shivered

"The less you know the better" I pointed out

We stayed out there on the roof for a while until I started to shiver a little, it was cold out here and now id calmed down I was starting to feel it.

"You cold?"

"A little... guess we should probably get back in anyway"

"Right" he said standing

He held out his hand for me looking away from my face, I took his hand and he pulled me up like I was nothing.

"Need help getting down?"

"I'm fine" I blushed

He jumped down and I walked over to the side of the roof, standing up here it looked a lot higher then I remembered and I couldn't remember how I even got up here.

"Jump" he called out to me

"WHAT!"

"I'll catch you"

"there's no way I'm jumping, I've gotten down from worse places then this, I got up here I can get down"

"Suit yourself" he shrugged walking away

"Wait!" I called out

"Yeah?" he asked looking up at me with his hands in his pocket

"If you drop me or something I will make you pay for the rest of your life" I threatened

"I won't drop you, just hurry it up will you"

"Can you at least get your hands out of your pocket?"

"Fine" he grumbled

_"How was he meant to catch me with his hands in his pocket!"_ I freaked out inside my head

"Here goes" I said before jumping down

He caught me in his arms but didn't set me down straight away; he was just staring down at my face making my blush.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"What? Oh uhh no" he mumbled setting me on my feet but he didn't let go of my shoulders

"Are you ok?" I asked a little concerned "I didn't hurt you did I? Wait don't tell me you're sick or something, let me check" I moved closer towards him and reached up with my arm to feel his head

I had to stand on my tip toes, it's not like he was too much taller than me but he was still at least a head taller and it was easier to stand on my tip toes then stretching up.

"Well you don't have a temperature... I don't think so anyway"

I pulled my head away from his forehead and went to step back only to find his arms around my waist holding me in place.

"You're eyes are very pretty" he muttered quietly "they always sparkle at night"

"Wha-what?" I blushed "what's gotten into you?"

He didn't say anything more, before I could stop it he captured my lips with his own, my eyes widened and my heart pounded while my mind raced.

_"WHAT'S HAPPENENING! What is he doing!"_ I panicked

After a few seconds I felt my body relax and melt into the kiss but then way to soon it was over and he was pulling away from me.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that" he said turning away from me

"Uhhh" was all I could say

"I'm going inside now"

"Uhhh" I mumbled as he walked past me

_"What just happened?"_


	10. Chapter 10

For the rest of the trip Kiba and I didn't really talk much, every time we were left alone we would look around the room in silence. Some of the others picked up on our behaviour and to make it worse they purposely left us alone together! By the time the last day was announced I had to admit I was slightly glad. Once we got back home everything would go back to normal, Kiba and I would go back to normal, or so I hoped.

It was the morning we were leaving and once again I was woken up way to early, I couldn't understand how Hinata, Tenten, Ino and Sakura were so... energetic about the whole thing.

"So tired" I yawned getting changed

"Come Suki, aren't you ready yet?" Sakura called out

"Leave me alone blossom, I'm not used to this early morning thing" I grumbled

"I wish you wouldn't call me that" she groaned

"Yeah billboard brow suits her much better" Ino laughed

"What was that, Ino-pig?"

"Cherry blossom will you stop fighting for 5 minutes please"

"Cherry blossom?" they both asked

"Yeah, I think it sounds cute, Sakura is blossom because of her name and Ino is cherry because she likes cherry tomatoes, so together its cherry blossom" I explained stuffing my things into my bag "ok I'm ready"

Once we all reached the road back to Konoha I let out a tired sigh and dropped my head when I remembered something.

"Oh, hey this is still my present right?"

"Yeah" Naruto agreed

"So that means I get a lift back right?"

"I didn't think you wanted to ride Akamaru again" Sakura pointed out

I looked towards Akamaru who was standing next to Kiba, our eyes met for a second before we both looked away blushing slightly.

"Akamaru wasn't bad, it was kinda fun... I guess but anyway I would feel bad if he carried me again so let's see... Neji?"

"Forget it!" he hissed at me closing his eyes

"You're no fun" I sighed "what about you Sasuke, you wouldn't leave me stranded would you?"

The look he gave me told me he would so I quickly moved onto someone else.

"Well fine if you guys are so mean I know at least one here that won't say no to me" I huffed "right Lee?"

"BUSHY BROWS!" Naruto shouted

"What? Lee is strong and I'm sure it would be no trouble for him at all right Lee?"

"Of course not" he said with his pack already in front of him

"See, at least someone here is a gentle man, but uhh Lee... think you could do me one little favour?"

"What is it?"

"Well I know you're fast and everything but do you think you could go a little slower for me?"

"I can't do that!"

"Think of it as a training exercise" I told him

"Huh?"

"I know you're fast but sometimes fast isn't better, sometimes you have to take your time doing things, right guys?"

"That's right" a few agreed with me

"You are almost as wise as Gai-sensei!" he said looking at me with sparkling eyes "I shall try my best!"

"Great! I'm counting on you Lee Lee"

Once I was settled we headed off, I had to admit I was a lot more comfortable on his back then I was on Akamaru's, at least Lee could actually hold onto me as he ran. We could have made it back by early afternoon but I don't think any of them were really wanting to get back to real missions any time soon so we ended up stopping for lunch near a stream.

I wandered off from the group enjoying the scenery, it was the perfect balance of a crystal blue sky with a few pure white clouds floating around, then the sun reflecting through the branches making the water shine a mix between a green and a blue sparkling with the sun. it was relaxing just sitting here listening to the stream and feeling the small waves brush against my feet as they dangled over the edge, it was as if all my worries washed away.

I heard someone walking towards me and I frowned a little wanting this peace to last longer, they stopped near me and didn't say a word but I could tell their eyes were on me. after a while I let out a sigh and lent back a little opening my eyes only to see it was Kiba looking down at me, I know I probably should have been surprised to see him there but after all the other times he's been sent to ask me something the others could have done I was kind of getting used to it.

"Uhhh... oh right, they wanted to know if you were ok"

"I'm fine" I said simply sitting up straight

"Right" he mumbled turning away

"You might as well stay" I sighed

"What?"

"They're just going to send you back here with some other obvious question or something, so just stay, least that way we can both get some peace right?"

"What makes you think they would do that?"

"Haven't you noticed Sakura and the other girls have been sending either me to you or you to me?"

"Not really" he shrugged "why would they do something like that for"

"because they think were fighting, so they want us to make up" I explained lying flat on the grass "I kept telling them that's not the case but as they always say 'if you're not fighting then why aren't you talking to each other anymore?' and you know their right... we haven't talked much.. N-not that I mind or anything, you can do what you want"

"There is one thing that's been bothering me" he said sitting down

"What is it? It's not like you to keep that stuff to yourself, normally you just bark at the person that's causing the problem, what's changed?"

"It's about you" he said rather quietly

"Now I'm confused, I'm always annoying you and you never have a problem barking at me, in fact sometimes I get the feeling you wait for me to do something just so you can" I laughed "so come on, out with it"

"It's about the other day..."

_"Other day? Wait is this about the circus?..."_

"Look Kiba I already told you, I made up my mind, I'm not going anywhere so just leave it alone already"

He started to growl and I knew that wasn't a good thing, normally when this happened it was because one of our small spats had gone too far and we would both yell at each other before storming off then we wouldn't talk for a while.

"I wasn't talking about the stupid circus!"

"Geesh, no need to bite my head of, well what's your problem then?"

"You know what forget it!" he yelled standing up "maybe you should have just stayed behind with them"

With that said he stormed off, to say I was hurt wouldn't have been correct, in truth I was crushed. We had both said mean things to each other but nothing like this, and I didn't even know what the problem was this time! What did I do to deserve that!

"Suki are you ready to go?" Naruto called out

"Be there in a minute" I called back

I put my shoes back on then stood up wiping my eyes not allowing any tears to fall, not here, not from him. I walked back to the others and picked up my bag then with a smirk I faced them.

"Who wants to race back?"

"Race?" Naruto asked with a small smirk "against you?"

"Well if Lee agrees he'll be carrying me, but don't worry guys I understand if you don't want to, after all even with Lee carrying me he would still be faster"

"YOU'RE ON!" Naruto shouted

After nearly squishing the life out of Lee he and Naruto took off, I had to hold on for dear life as they raced back to Konoha with the rest following behind us. Lee got to the gate first with Naruto seconds behind him saying that Lee was cheating.

"Wow you guys are fast" I said standing on shaky legs "remind me never to do that again"

"Gai-sensei, I won this race just for you!" he said striking a pose

"Riiiight..." I said moving back a little

I looked behind us and saw the others were catching up fast, ignoring the fact my head was starting to spin and my legs were shaky I started walking through the gate.

"Uhhh tell the others I had to go take care of something ok? And I'll talk to them later or something... yeah, see ya"

I ran off down the road as fast as my wobbly legs could take me, the last person I wanted to see was Kiba. Once I got home I realised mum and dad weren't there, judging by the time they were probably out with students or something so I laid face first on my bed waiting for my head to stop spinning.

"Not my best idea" I mumbled to myself

At some point I fell asleep and didn't wake up until the smell of food drifted into my room, I woke up a little groggy and confused. Yawning and rubbing my head I headed towards the kitchen where mum was cooking like she did every night.

"Hey mum" I yawned sitting down

"You're awake" she smiled facing me "how was your trip? I didn't expect you back until well around now actually"

"Had a race back, never letting Lee carry me again" I explained letting my head hit the table "oh that reminds me... you will never guess who I saw on my trip"

I told mum about the trip and about getting to perform again, I didn't tell her about the whole deal with Kiba and the truth or dare game, there were some things mothers just didn't need to know.

"So you had fun?"

"Yeah, it was great, but..." I said with a sigh

"What is it?"

"Well performing made me realise something..."

"Oh?"

"I'm so out of shape! 10 year old kids were fitter then me" I told her "from now on I'm going to train more"

"They do that every day, you don't anymore"

"I know but still, it's the principle of the matter" I frowned with mum laughing at me

During dinner dad questioned me a thousand times about the guys but in all it was great being home with things returning to normal. After dinner I decided to go out for a run, I did most nights to help me sleep and after sleeping for the few hours after getting home I wasn't the least bit tired. While I was out I headed to the south training ground, it was generally pretty quiet and training took my mind of things. After checking no one was around I started to stretch then practice my jumps and turns but I couldn't focus.

"Damn that Kiba" I shouted punching a tree

A wave of pain shot up my arm as it went through the tree, there were a lot of old trees around that had been eaten out by termites and unfortunately I hit one getting wood in my arm and hand. To make matters worse I hit something hard under the hollow base making me feel like I shattered my arm. Ignoring the pain and the blood I headed to the hospital, everything after that was a blur, they gave me something to put me to sleep and when I woke up I had a bandage going from my elbow to my fingers and it was morning.

I got up quickly knowing mum and dad would be wondering where I was but my bones felt all numb and tingly making it hard to stand. Eventually I managed to make it out of the room but the nurses stopped me before I could leave.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Home?"

"Not on your own you're not, we had to give you something for the pain but you had a uhhh... interesting reaction..."

"I'm fine"

I went to lean my good arm on their bench but instead I fell to the floor.

"Oppies" I giggled

"Ok back to bed you go, at least until this wears off"

As I was getting helped up I noticed Shikamaru walking past the building, forgetting all about the nurses I hurried outside to greet him only to fall down and land on top of him.

"What the!?"

"Hi Rara" I giggled

"Suki? What's wrong with you?"

"I dunno, I feel all funny"

The nurses ran out helping us and they were going to take me back inside but I clung to Shikamaru like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Rara protect me!" I shouted

"What are you doing?" he asked looking at me

"She was in pain and we had to give her something for it but it seems to have made her... well like this" they explained

"I wanna go home" I pouted up at him

"Man" he sighed "I guess I'll take her home"

"Yay!" I shouted jumping only to nearly lose my balance again

"What a drag"

He had to help me walk, my legs still felt like jelly and I was constantly tripping over my own feet, as we headed to my place I saw Kiba walking down the opposite street.

"INU!" I called out trying to walk towards him

Shikamaru had his hand around my waist supporting me so it made it hard to walk away from him.

"Rara I want to see Inu" I told him tugging at his shirt

"Who is Inu?" he asked with a sigh

"Kiba of course, now let's go! Quickly before he gets away" I told him pointing towards Kiba's fading figure

"I thought you wanted to go home"

"Please" I begged giving him puppy eyes

"You owe me for this"

He ended up picking me up and jumping towards where Kiba was heading, he landed down in front of the surprised Kiba and put me back on my feet before putting his hands in his pocket.

"That was fun, let's do it again" I giggled

"What's going on?" Kiba asked

"I don't know, I found her like this, nurses says it's got something to do with what they gave her" he shrugged

"I feel all wobbly like jelly!" I announced

"Right..." Kiba said looking at me like I was insane

"Anyway she's you're problem now"

"What? You can't just dump her one me like that!" he shouted

"Inu and I had a fight so he doesn't like me anymore" I whispered rather loudly to Shikamaru

"Inu?" Kiba asked

"Don't ask" Shikamaru sighed "anyway she wanted to see you so I'm leaving now"

Shikamaru jumped away before Kiba could argue with him.

"Bye bye" I waved to Shikamaru's fading form

"Hey what happened to your arm?"

I held up my bandaged arm looking at it trying to remember.

"Oh that's right, I hit a tree" I nodded proudly

"Why?"

"Because I was frustrated that you yelled at me for no reason, bad Inu"

"Let's just get you home"

He turned around and I went to follow him but once again I tripped over my feet, with a sigh he helped me up then with his arm around my waist started to walk me home.

"You always smell like the trees and dirt and the forest" I told him with a sigh "it's a nice smell"

"You've really lost it this time haven't you?"

"Oh wait" I said straightening

"What is it?"

"I have something to tell you"

"And that is?"

"I don't remember" I mumbled looking at the ground

"Just get moving will you" he grumbled

We walked in silence for a while, I could tell he was still annoyed with me even if I didn't exactly know why but I didn't like fighting with him, not like this.

"Kiba" I whispered trying not to annoy him

"Oh so I'm Kiba again?"

"You're always Kiba silly" I pointed out

"But before... oh never mind" he grumbled "what is it?"

"I don't want to fight"

"Were not fighting" he sighed

"Were not?" I asked looking up at him "I'm happy"

Silence fell over us again until I got the sudden urge to poke the red strike on his face, I moved my finger towards him and I noticed him watching me but I guess he didn't expect me to poke him because he never tried to stop me.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I wanted to poke it" I told him "poke" I said poking it again

"Stop that"

"Poke"

"I said stop it" he growled "or next time I'll bite you"

Deciding he wouldn't really do that I went to poke him again, he turned around and bit my finger gently but it was enough for me to pull back and yelp in surprise.

"You bit me" I said shocked

"I warned you"

"You're a big meany" I frowned sucking on my finger

Kiba just shook his head with a sigh, we were only a block away from my house but I was starting to get really sleepy and walking was becoming impossible. Eventually Kiba was forced to carry me whether he wanted to or not, I remember getting home and hearing mums panicked voice then Kiba explaining what he knew. I also remembered feeling safe and protected then someone tried to take me away from it so with what little strength I had in my sleepy state I held onto the warmth not wanting this feeling to go away. I was moved after that but I stayed with the soft, warm person so I slowly drifted into a deep sleep dreaming of the woods for some reason.


	11. Chapter 11 - End

When I woke up my head was killing me and it felt like there was a weight on me, I went to sit up but I couldn't put any pressure on my arm. I moved it out in front of me and saw the bandage there, it took me a few seconds to remember why it was bandaged and hurting a little.

"Finally awake huh"

"I can wake up whenever I please" I pointed out

_"Wait what?"_

I attempted to pull myself up once more but this time it was the weight on my stomach that stopped me from moving, I looked down and saw Akamaru was lying across me. Confused I looked towards the person who talked and saw Kiba in my door way holding a bag.

"Kiba? What are you doing here? Why is puffy here trying to crush me?"

"He was looking after you" he explained walking towards me

He sat down on the chair that was for some reason near my bed, after putting the bag on my bedside table he tightened his fist into a ball then gently hit my head.

"Ay!" I shouted

"Don't call him puffy"

"Can you just get him off me please"

A silent conversation passed between them and Akamaru jumped of my bed then walked over to Kiba and laid down at his feet.

"Much better" I sighed sitting up "wait why was he looking after me?"

"I left to get lunch so he stayed behind to keep an eye on you, making sure you didn't fall on your head or something"

"Fall on my head? Why would I fall on my head, and why are you here in the first place..."

"It's nice to know you're acting like yourself again" he said holding out a noodle box "hungry?"

"Yeah thanks..." I muttered taking it from him

While he was eating I couldn't help but stare at him, first he was angry at me for some reason and now he was here in my room giving me food.

"Don't you even think about poking me again" he threatened point his chopsticks at me

"Why on earth would I want to poke you" I scoffed at him

_"Maybe he's lost it or something" _I thought as I started to eat

I had only taken a few bites when the vague memory of poking him came flooding to the front of my mind, as well as the events that led up to that moment. A shiver travelled up my spine and I was sure my face was red as I tried to look away from him, Kiba stopped eating and looked at me before bursting out into laughter.

"Man that was priceless" he laughed nearly falling on the floor

"Sh-shut up" I blushed eating faster

Once we finished eating and Kiba had stopped laughing at me a silence fell over us, even though we weren't fighting and he didn't seem angry at me anymore there was still tension in the air.

"Oh that's right, you never told me why you were here... I remember you taking me home but why are you still here? I thought you would have left or something"

"I tried handing you over but you wouldn't let my jacket go, even once I got you up to your room you still held onto my arm. Took forever until you let go of me"

"You're the reason... I dreamt of the forest..." I whispered

"What was that?"

"oh nothing" I waved off "so um... well thankyou from bringing me back home... and uhhh sorry for being such a trouble..."

"Well according to you it's my fault anyway"

"I guess it's a little bit mine to..." I sighed

"Look... I didn't mean what I said ok, I was just frustrated that's all"

"I know" I smiled at him "oh, I remember what my question was"

"Yeah what is it?"

"What was it about?" I asked looking up at him

"It doesn't matter" he mumbled

I didn't want to push him but I knew nothing could return to normal until we got rid of this tension, I reached out and put my hand over his and smiled at him.

"It obviously matters to you, you said it was about the other day... and if it wasn't about the whole circus thing then what was it about?"

For the first time since I had known him Kiba didn't say a word, he just sat there looking down at Akamaru with a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.

"You remember when you and the others were playing that silly game"

"Silly game? We played lots of ga... Oh you mean truth or dare right? I-I already said... that was because of the dare" I explained blushing

"I know that!" he shouted at me

"...wait you mean after when you... Uhh... said my eyes were pretty?"

"Yeah something like that" he mumbled

"..."

Everything went quiet again as we avoided eye contact. I was never the kind of girl to hold back thoughts, I would always just say what I thought which is why I fit in so well with everyone; they all pretty much did the same.

"Kiba" I whispered tightening my grip on his hand "I've never... I mean I don't really know what to do... what to say but umm... you see the thing is... I've always admired you. You're really strong and you care about your team mates and even though we argue a lot you would be the first person I went to if I was ever in trouble... I guess what I'm maybe trying to say is that I... I really care about you Kiba"

"I really carboutouto" he mumbled trailing off at the end

I looked up at him with wide eyes but his head was turned away from me, I felt his hand move undermine and as I looked down he held my hand entwining our fingers.

**_*Week or so later*_**

I was heading towards the training grounds when I walked past Kiba and Akamaru training, I only stopped for a second when I noticed his jacket was on the floor. With an evil smirk I crept up and grabbed his jacket before running off, once I was sure he hadn't noticed I put it on and continued on my way to the training ground.

"Hey guys" I called out to Shikamaru, Choji and Ino "want to get some lunch?"

"Sure!" Choji shouted

"Isn't that Kiba's?" Ino asked me as she walked closer

"Yep, walked past him a while ago and it was on the floor"

"That would explain why he doesn't look too happy" Ino said

"Huh?"

"I knew it would be you"

I jumped slightly before turning around and saw Kiba walking towards me with a frown, I smiled at him and put my hands in the jacket pockets.

"Give it back" he said holding out his hand

"Give what back?"

"My jacket" he growled

"Haven't seen it"

"You're wearing it"

"Oh well in that case nope"

"What do you mean 'nope'?" he said mimicking me

"You should learn to share" I said walking past him "so what does everyone want for lunch today"

"Hey don't ignore me!" he shouted grabbing my arm

"Please let me wear it" I plead looking up at him with my sad face "just for a little while, pleeeeease"

"You're the devil in disguise aren't you?" he asked letting go of my arm

I turned to face him and poked his forehead before running off laughing.

"Get back here!" he shouted coming after me

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it ^-^ please leave a review, i love hearing from everyone and i hope you enjoyed the story<strong>


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